#then there was that one manga and i wanted to bash my head against a wall..... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bowieandqueen11 · 8 months

Text

Sanji With A Clingy Reader Would Include...

Request: OH BABY telling about one piece is like unlocking a whole second heart of mine i have fully for that anime and manga and live action. and so, if you ever decided of course, you writing something similar to something you did on marvel once and sanji with reader that has no personal space and is touchy would be amazing. but also... kissing zoro is great to, if you ever decided? anyway! HOPE YOU LOVE IT (one piece i mean), and if not ignore me UwU

Ooh yess babes this is so SWEET!! :3 I LOVED IT omg hello to my latest obsession not me ordering the first collection of the manga

This was really sweet and fun to do, but I did stay up all night writing it so all comments are much appreciated!

Warning: slightly spicy, some mentions of fighting!

(I do not own One Piece or its characters, all rights go to creators. Gif credit goes to @fanpageknight.)

☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°

Look at this man. Seriously, look at this man with his little bottom lip bite and eyes like the sun shines heavily out of them and tell me he would be anything less than absolutely madly, heart wrenchingly, soul crushingly enthralled with a clingy reader??? That's right you can't take the l on this one.

It all started that day when the three of you ended up shipwrecked on that sad sack excuse of a rock. When you and Sanji huddled on one side of the forsaken isle to stay away from the terrifying Pirate Zeff. His hands had shaken as he drew them up to his chest, but he mustered the nerves to string open the sack Zeff had thrown at his feet. Once he had counted out the cans, he offered all the food to you.

He wanted you to stay alive far more than himself. Ever since you had landed on his ship he had been smitten, and his weary heart would beat its last under this smothering sun as long as you would live on for the both of them.

To keep him calm: to stop his gasping, tortured heaves as he tried his best not to writhe in panic at the thought of never stepping back on safe land again, you would spent most of those 85 days sitting over the cragged edges. Sanji couldn't tear his eyes away from peering down at the gushing shards of stone below that seemed to rip up in tides and tear for his swinging feet; to try and distract him from sniffling any longer, your hand would tentatively creep over the rock until it landed flatly, and unceremoniously on top of his own. His fingers flexed beneath your own, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he folded them upwards, giving your hand a shaking squeeze: a dutiful promise, a flitting confession of love, that you just happened not to feel in your ruminations of the circumstances.

In fact, he asked you that night, in an uncharacteristically quiet and bashful voice, if you would keep his nightmares away by holding him like his mother used to. You felt terrible: you were so stunned that for a moment you stood with the last piece of mouldy bread you had in your hand in shocked silence. Poor Sanji thought you were about to reject him outright: throw what little he had left of his heart - that he had so carefully lifted out and placed in his hands to offer to you, only to have it thrown back to his feet in the usual ridicule he got for his love. His bottom lip began to tremble, until you nearly knocked him onto his bottom with how fast you dropped everything and flew over to lock him in a tight hug, not minding the fact that your shoulder was growing wetter and wetter despite the brewing rain each time Sanji buried his snivelling head against it.

So you would let him rest safely in the bracket of your arms: his left cheek resting in the warm stretch between your collar bone and your neck, his right hand draped leisurely around your waist as you told him stories of pirates and treasure: of the Deep Blue and tropical fish that shone like bursts of fragmented starlight every time their fins graced the water. Although he would groan any time you removed your hand from where you were stroking the wet strands of his hair back from his forehead, it was quickly replaced with wonderment as you would point up at a cluster of stars and whisper excitedly: 'look, there's some now!'

He had never been afraid of nights ever since that moment, not when the stars were still out and he could trace with the butt of his cigarettes the fish you had drawn specially for him in the skies. It was like a secret message: a lover's reminder that he was never alone. That you were always with him. That your beauty - your light, it shone everywhere, no matter where he was.

It was the first time he had kissed you, two forgotten children lost underneath the dripping crevice of your little hideaway. As your belly began to rise and fall underneath his elbow, and he believed you had exhausted yourself out after trying to make him feel better, he dared to dart up from your shoulder and press his lips firmly against your cheek. It had been quick, almost gliding past time like a dolphin leaping up out of the water, but it had meant so much to him that he curled up into a ball in your side and flushed a bright cerise, having to shove his fist into his mouth to stop his manic giggling from waking you up.

But you weren't asleep, and as Sanji settled back into your neck with a smile bright enough to rival the shine of buttercup petals, you swore as he began to drift off in the first peaceful dream he had had in years that one day you would return the favour, but in full.

The two of you were thick as thieves growing up, to the point where Zeff became so distracted by your antics that he often tried to separate the two of you by making you work the floor and Sanji either in the kitchens, or off fishing at the docks. Ten seconds later though, he'd be kicking through the kitchen doors again to find you leaning on the kitchen counter next to an eager faced Sanji, whose to busy to register Zeff's shouting. Instead he places the spoon to your lips, having spent half of lunch service prep cooking you a brand new recipe he had spent the whole night creating out of a medley of your favourite foods. He subconsciously licks his bottom lip, the tension in the room felt by the other chefs who try to carry on washing pans and cutting vegetables enough to put everyone on edge as Sanji refused to look anywhere but your lips. Holding his hand under your chin, his dipped eyes were broken by a sudden grin as a loud 'mmhhh' left your mouth and you chewed in sweet bliss.

Still ignoring Zeff's increasingly erratic rant, as Sanji goes to start cleaning up his pan you slide down to stand behind him, wrapping your arms tightly around your back and jutting your chin into his shoulder blade like a baby koala. You can tell he's laughing silently by the way his shoulders shake against you, but all he does is pull up your hand from his belly button to press sweet, dainty kisses up and down the lengths of your fingers, before dropping it down to press your palm flatly against his heart.

'I think that might be your greatest dish yet, buttercup!'

'From you, that means everything my precious heart.'

'Why do you call me that?', you murmur, refusing to lift your lips from his shirt.

'Well my sweet love, why do you call me buttercup? I mean, I always know I smell of butter and the likes-'.

He's distracted by your snort against the side of his neck, but the two of you are too love-strikingly embarrassed to say anything again. Even if neither of you could see the warm peach rushing up both your cheeks, Zeff could. He could also hear the padding thuds of Sanji's heart as he gripped his fingers that almost imperceptibly bit tighter around your hand, and he found himself sighing at how oblivious you two idiots were.

Sanji is definitely just as clingy as you, if not more so. You've definitely met your match in this man. I mean, any time you're out on the floor, handing out bread to tables and scanning the room to check if there were any patrons you may have to throw out by the scuff of their collars later, his eyes are trained on yours. He leans against the banisters, not even trying to remotely hide how obviously he's tracing your path with a dumbstruck, lit up smile. If you're in the kitchens, desperately trying to bite your tongue and not tear Zeff a new one as he chops his hands together and rushes you to plate up? He's sliding up to your side in an instant, throwing scathing looks at the man while trying to help you spoon thyme onto your bass, nuzzling the side of his head into yours encouragingly. If you have any free time at all? Sanji is fast on your heels, darting after you like someone's firing shots at his dress shoes, as if you have his heart tied to a string on your wrist as he seeks out whatever nook you're going to relax in. It doesn't matter if you're at the bar, watching the docks, or trying to hide from Zeff in one of the cupboards in the pantry: Sanji is squatting down and grunting as he shoves himself in right next to you. He sits criss cross, only satisfied when at least one of his knees is resting heavily over yours, and he has full access to watch what you're reading over the side of your neck.

He only fully settles, though, if you touch him in some way. He genuinely will begin mewling once your hand reaches over to brush your knuckles over his jawline, or your hand finds itself guided to bunch itself up in his hair. One time, he guided your hand into his lap, and you began to absentmindedly stroke your pointer finger along the seam of his inner thigh. Thank goodness you had your head buried in a book one of the pirate crews had come to swap some dried meats with you for, because it took every muscle in Sanji's body twitching: every finger clenching and unclenching into his knee until he drew blood not to knock you flat right there and then and kiss you like there was no tomorrow.

He gets a MASSIVE nosebleed - so gushing, in fact, that he tries to reassure you he's fine as you hold him by the elbows and lead his tilted back head and pinched nose down to Zeff for some help.

It becomes a very major recurring issue every time he looks at you. He makes sure to carry a handkerchief in his breast pocket from then on.

God, if he didn't love you more than anything in all the seas. If you weren't the only one that he let see past his charming nature: if you weren't the only person left in his life that truly could recognise the young boy left in his eyes, in his gait, in his smile, in his dreams. That little kid on that great big ship, the one who had found you stowed away behind one of the barrels of rum, and instead of calling for the crew had taken your trembling hand and led you into the kitchens, introducing you as his newest sous chef. That same kid, who stood beside you and held your hand so gently, so heartbreakingly gently under his as he guided you through lessons of chopping onions and sautéing garlic, breaking out into long strings of rushed, praising French every time you got it right. The same one, who would frown as if he were the one who had been hurt any time you burnt your hands or sliced your fingers. Who would unravel the knot at the back of his apron, and tug it over his head to carefully place it over yours.

'This always brings me luck', he would say as his fingers daintily tucked the strings underneath your shirt collar. 'But I don't need it anymore, because you've brought me all the luck and happiness a man could ever dream of, my cherie.'

The same kid who would tip toe out of his bed to sneak down to your hammock, crawling in and burying himself underneath your blankets where you slept in the brig, telling you fantastical stories about his mother until you fell sound asleep. He would watch you from where he lay on his side, hands folded by your head, as if you had hung every star in the wide skies. He would brush his fingers over the edge of your cheek and curl up beside you, wishing that every minute of every day of the rest of his life could be spent with you.

Yeah, smitten wasn't enough to cover it. Only destiny could be raw enough to draw the two of you to each other, Sanji always thought.

As teenagers, you would end every shift outside, sitting on the wonky boards of one of the jutted docks. Just sitting side by side, as you always wanted to be, pretending you weren't playing a game of chicken as the two of you teased and pressed and glanced your fingers over each other's, leaning back and looking up at the stars. Sanji always appreciated the better chance it gave him: shrouded in naught by wisps of moonlight and the rare flashing neon of ship string lights, to take you in as much as he could. You didn't mind the fact that he spent the whole time staring over at you. In fact, if you hadn't been so lovestruck, you might have found the courage to tear your head away from the horizon to meet the look of gut-wrenching devotion that always seemed to pour out of his eyes and beam only on you. It always felt like warm sunlight, sitting next to him, and so you finally dared a chance at grabbing his fingers and intertwining them between your own, pretending it was because of the sea chill spraying a fine mist over your legs.

Again, the squeeze he gave your hand was almost, almost imperceptible, but you felt it this time. And you could feel the look of enduring devotion he pierced into your skin, a warm tingle washing like a spring tide through your tired body.

He always knew. He always knew that if he had stayed on that rock, he would have been content to. Happy, even. Because he would have been with you.

'I love you', he said without words. He gave your hand another squeeze. 'I'm going to love you forever. No matter how many lifetimes. No matter who I am. I'm always going to find you, and I'm always going to love you.'

His voice nearly made you jump, surprising you at how it started with his usual buttery smoothness, before cracking with a thick gulp as his words trailed of. 'Never leave without me.'

'I promise, as long as you don't leave without me.'

He shakes his head. 'You never leave me. Not even for a moment.'

Sometimes, when the two of you are older, he still comes stealing into your room at night, wiping his nose with the back of his hand as his lips wobble into a frightened frown. Turns out, as he draws the covers back and comes reaching in for you, he had another nightmare that pirates had come to steal you away from him again. With an aching sigh for how stricken he looked, how desolate, you let him claw at your shirt and bury his head into the side of your neck until the rest of the world melted away.

He kissed you again, that night. When the feel of his legs strewn familiarly between your own began to burn against his skin, and the weight of hand perched over his thrumming heart became too heavy to bear in secret. With nothing but the light streaming like shards of pearly stars through the porthole to betray a moment so special, so longed for, Sanji let his eyelashes flutter close as he slowly... slowly pressed his lips against your cheek again.

This time, his eyes widened in shock as the feeling of your hand gripping at his jaw and turning his face straight on to your own. Before he can even open his mouth in confusion, the sweet pressure of your lips pressed against his top one. For a moment, Sanji doesn't move an inch: doesn't even breath, not even processing that the thing he’s spent every moment of his waking and sleeping life wishing for ever since he found you on that boat was actually happening, right here right now. He tries really hard to stop his whole body from shaking, as his silky lashes finally falter shut against the top of your cheeks and he tries to focus his whole attention on the way your plush lip seems to press so perfectly against his own.

When he finally pulls away, he lets out a loud 'OW' as he pinches his arm.

'What did you do that for!?'

'I had to double check this wasn't a dream, my sweets!'

And then he's on you again, like a ravished man gasping for air. God, he wasn't sure if soulmates were real, but when your top lip pulled down against his, and he could feel the thud of your heart synch against his own beneath the tips of his fingers, if he didn't know that he was yours.

He stays in your room a lot more often after that, using it as an excuse for you to help him button up his shirt during sleepy mornings, smiling at the feel of your fingers as they knocked against the muscles of his chest. It was also his favourite part of the day - the good morning kiss the two of you shared before you raced down to be at your shifts before Zeff decided to knock your heads together.

One time you forgot to give him one, too distracted by one of the sous chefs busting into your room with a bloodied nose and a chipped front tooth, whistling through the gap as he begged you to come down to the main foyer and help him break out a fist fight that had started between two gangs of rival pirates. The pout on Sanji's face that day was enough to make even the most bounty-heavy pirate's knees tremble. Every other chef steered way clear of his station, watching the arch of his back and the jaw in his muscle jump as he busied himself by frying his steak of tuna, so gutted at the loss of just one kiss. Not angry, no: just grief stricken, because this man seriously just adores you that much.

When you finally get your lunch break, the first thing you do is throw your napkin down on the kitchen ground and grab Sanji by his suit collar, enjoying the surprise tilt of his head as he drops his spoon onto his serving tray and allows you to lead his feet backwards to the fire exit. As soon as he's outside, you slam him gently against the wooden beams of the Baratie restaurant, and kissed him silly to make up for it. His look of trusting confusion suddenly melt into jumping heart eyes when your knee slides up between his thighs to try and pin him in place. His breathing comes out in harsh, shallow gasps between ferocious kisses, and you have to press him back against the wall every time he comes arching forward to follow your head for even more kisses. No, this was about you making him feel good. And by goodness, as your tongue pressed against the seam of his lips and tentatively ran over his front teeth, if he wasn't two seconds away from falling to his knees right there and then.

When you let him go, he slides down the wall like putty until he's sitting with legs stretched out and both his suit and hair a ruffled mess. He's literally never been more deliriously happy in his whole life.

Your favourite time of the day is when the restaurant closes, and the two of you finally have the kitchens to yourselves. Once you've tossed your aprons back onto the rack with a tired sigh, the only thing that can cheer you up is the sound of Sanji kicking his chair back with the toe of his shoe, and the sight of him beckoning you over to him with that tilted head and pearly beam of his. Mmh, how safe you feel, how loved as you collapse down to sit on his knees, and he tucks you in between the brackets of his arms in a vice so tight it could match any Marine knot.

You take one of his hands off the pen he was holding, turning his palm round to face you so you could fiddle with the rings he was wearing. You draw one up, curling his finger before your eyes, before slotting one off and sliding it onto your own ring finger. It was the one his father had given him: one he so loathed to wear, and yet felt guilt bore down too heavily on his conscious to ever take it off. You turned the one on top of it, one you know Zeff had given him after his first day working at the Baratie, and you smiled at the memory.

'You know', you start, still fiddling with his hand, feeling him shift his thighs as you pressed a gentle kiss on the pointer finger you were currently grasping onto. 'I may just have to keep this one.'

'Oh yeah?', he says dreamily, and you could feel his grin growing as he hid his burning face in the nape of your neck. 'Don't worry sweetheart. One day, once I find the perfect one, I'll give you a ring of your own.'

The two of you sneak out and share cigarettes out the back door a lot, where Sanji steps forward and kisses you like a man possessed every time you pinch the stub from out of his mouth and draw it along your bottom lip teasingly. When you try to get him to go back in, he just wraps his arms around your waist and lifts you up, spinning you around to stop you from leaving him alone. Laughing, you try to shove him off, swatting at the hands that form a tight clasp over your belly button, until his large fingers finally slide down to hold your waist. You glance behind you, smirking at the way his eyes are tightly shut in euphoria as ducks down, chest nearly enveloping in his desperation to reach your face again. His kisses become sloppier: smoke stained as they leave wet trails up your jaw, before he finally gives in and tries to make you laugh one last time by nibbling at the lobe of your ear.

Whenever he has a fight with Zeff, you have to hold him afterwards. The feel of your fingers curling the hair at the nape of his neck, or rubbing soothing circles into the sore muscles of his shoulders stops the furious darts of air from flaring his nostrils almost immediately.

Man has blaring heart eyes 100% whenever he's in a fight with rowdy customers, and you get to kick the flashy knife out of the last one's hand before the pirate could launch straight for Sanji's neck. He tilts his head at you with those amazed eyes, a gentle smile growing almost shyly on his face like a secret wink, before he throws his now empty plate at the pirate trying to sneak up behind your back. The crash echoes out through the booth area, a cry so furious: so full of rage that anyone would try and dare hurt you, that it makes all the remaining pirate crews crawl out towards the door on their hands and knees.

Stitching each other up afterwards is a motherfcking mess though, that Zeff straight up just abandons all hope of being able to use his kitchen. With a defeated rub of his pounding temples, he lets the door slam shut on his heel because he just can't deal with the two of you. He'd much rather pick up a brush and start sweeping bits of crushed and splattered asparagus off the floors than have to watch you to battle it out in a stiff competition of who could be more sickeningly, maddingly in love with the other. Between you standing between Sanji's entrapping thighs, closing you in tighter so you could have full access to kiss his bobbing Adam's apple as you use a rag to swipe bits of dry sauce off his neck, and him throwing his head back and whimpering, Zeff was going to go insane. Even worse, as soon as you're finished, Sanji's reaching between your fingers to lick split consomme off your nose.

The two of you are literally insufferable, and if every one apart from Zeff doesn't find it the cutest thing I-

When Luffy comes and wrangles Sanji into joining his crew, the chef's first thought is to be distraught. He seeks you out straight away, nearly breaking some poor fisherman's pole as he tries to hurdle over it and grip onto your shoulders, making you drop the barrel of dried meats you were carrying from Luffy onto the planks and watching Luffy nearly dangle off the edge of his ship to stop it from rolling into the ocean.

'Y/n- I- I can't go!'

'You're hardly scared!'

'I'm not scared of going, I'm terrified of going without you!'

You let him pour his heart out for a moment, before stopping his rambling, near sobbing mess of a sentence by bopping the tip of his nose. You giggle, swiping some hair from his forehead. 'Sanji, Luffy asked me to come first. I promised I wouldn't go without you, and I meant it.'

You manage to unlatch his twitching hand from your left shoulder, and give it an almost imperceptible squeeze. The tears that threatened to fall from his eyes finally cascade down, although he's so relieved that he's smiling through the blurriness. You swipe them away with your free thumb, finally, after all these years, feeling the squeeze of your hand that Sanji gives you back, before he envelops you in a breath taking hug.

'Awww, you guys are so sweet!', Luffy calls out from where he's hanging by his sandal off the railing of his ship. 'But could someone give me a hand before my hat falls into the waves? That would not be very cool.'

The first thing the two of you do once you're on The Going Merry is to find your bunk. Sanji isn't very subtle when he kicks your door shut with his heel, and comes scampering towards you like an upended sand crab, pinching for you until he's hefted you up over his shoulder and has unceremoniously landed you in your shared hammock. He's quick to jump in, straddling you as the hammock sways back and forth with the commotion.

He nearly starts crying again when he sees a flash of silver poke out from underneath your neckline; he grazes his hand over the chain, recognising it as his father's ring you had taken months ago. The one he had hated so much. The one you had tried to save him from. A small piece of him. A weight you tried to bear for him. A reminder of how much he was loved.

A confused Zoro, not realising there are new crew members on board, follows the sound of Sanji's voice crooning out how much he adores you, and how he loves you more than every star in the sky, down past the window on your bedroom door. Let's just say, he's not very impressed when he catches sight of the hammock swinging wildly from side to side, and an array of clothes thrown out and discarded in a mess around it.

#one piece #sanji #one piece imagine #sanji imagine #sanji x reader #sanji headcanons #opla #monkey d luffy #zoro #vinsmoke sanji #vinsmoke sanji imagine #vinsmoke sanji x reader #vinsmoke sanji headcanons

1K notes · View notes

sleepingpopplio · 1 year

Text

Izuku Midoriya and confronting a complicated past— an analysis

With the upcoming arc in the anime about to come after next week’s episode, I think that it’s important to talk about Izuku as a character, and everything that has led him to this moment and this particular arc in the series. While there is a lot going on in that Kid’s head, most of the things that directly cause Deku to act the way he does during his vigilante time has been left unsaid and up to the reader to pick up on. This could be seen as sloppy writing, but it could also be seen as a great use of subtlety to create a slow downward spiral for our protagonist that can be incredibly rewarding for readers who take the time to do some extra sleuthing. So before the arc begins, and before the inevitable controversy on whether or not the arc was rushed or came out of nowhere, how about we take a close look at Izuku Midoriya as a character and his depth that is often ignored. Let’s take a peek at how his entire arc is filled with tragedy, hope, and the importance of confronting one’s past. Sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy my first in depth BNHA analysis where I hope to give manga readers who are currently watching the anime some added perspective. Also disclaimer: I love all the characters in this series and will not be bashing on any of them, as I feel as though it would be undermining the messages of the story and the depth of the characters. Nothing I say is meant to be putting down any characters and I am not blaming any single character for Izuku’s struggles. All fans of any characters are safe and welcome to enjoy this.

At the beginning of the series during the very first line from our protagonist, which is something that is supposed to help the audience understand the type of story they are about to read— Izuku says “people are not born equal”. He also states that he learned that fact at the young age of four years old. From the very beginning, Deku was made to believe that he is less than everyone else. Less than those with quirks, and therefore less of a human. Quirks, literally translated from Japanese, mean individuality. To be quirkless, in the eyes of MHA’s society, is to be without a soul. Or at least, that is what can be understood by a small child who simply wants to belong. Therefore, deku internalizes form a young age that he inherently has less value as a quirkless boy, and such internalizing severely damages his perception of himself for the rest of the series. He’s a useless deku that does not have much to contribute. However, during the very same first scene we also see Izuku fighting back against the kids trying to beat him up. Despite the odds stacked against him, Izuku midoriya is determined to prove himself. He’s determined to prove to others, and to himself, that he has value. He is also determined to keep moving forward despite society seemingly turning him away. But children need time to process their emotions. They need time to learn and talk through the issues they’re facing. Izuku does not do that. He keeps fighting, he keeps wanting to be a hero, but he doesn’t talk to any adult around him about how he feels. He doesn’t get told that he is perfect the way he is, or that he doesn’t have to prove anything. What happens when such insecurities and trauma are not given the space to heal at an early age? Well let’s move forward a few years…

When Deku meets all might, and demonstrates his innate and pure heroism when he runs to save Bakugo from the sludge villain, he is offered a once an a lifetime chance: One For All. He is told that he can become a hero, and is aided in training to use the quirk and get into UA. By this point, Izuku’s self esteem issues that stemmed from his childhood and the the perception of quirklessness that was placed upon him by the world around him have only grown. He wants to be a hero, but he also has become quiet and reserved, as he thinks of himself more as an afterthought. He wants to help people, because he cares and he is a kind hearted individual, but also because he want to be useful. He has to be a useful hero, but how? The quirk of One For All thus represents a way to be useful in the way that Izuku thinks is correct, which is by being a quirked individual. So what happens when you give a kid with extreme self esteem issues, and who views himself as flawed for simply being himself, a very powerful quirk along side the opportunity to become a hero? That child latched onto the quirk like a lifeline. They have to make good use of their new quirk; they have to utilize the blessing granted to them or else they will remain useless and will be left behind. Izuku will work hard to earn his quirk because he feels as though he is unworthy, even though he already proved himself the second that his body moved on its own. Therefore, the second Izuku is given his quirk, he begins the cycle of using it as an unhealthy coping mechanism and source of validation. He is more hopeful than ever when given the quirk, but his unhealthy mindset is also given the power to run rampant. This is the story of a boy becoming the greatest hero he says, so early on in the series, but it also of a boy desperately trying to become more than he currently is, for better and for worse.

This then leads to the beginning of his time at UA, where Izuku, in addition to clinging onto his quirk as a replacement for his self esteem, begins reclaiming the meaning of his nickname Deku. “Deku is the name of a hero” he declares, and while taking back the power from his former bully and standing up for himself is an incredibly uplifting moment or Izuku in the beginning of the manga, there is another side of the coin that is the reclamation of Deku. Izuku Midoriya feels as though he has to be the new, hero Deku, or else there is nothing else worthwhile about him. He has to prove himself as a true hero or else he’ll have to go back to the old, useless Deku…He’ll forever be left behind. So, he breaks himself. Over, and over, and over again. The hero named Deku breaks his limbs time and time again, because if he doesn’t push himself to the brink, then he hasn’t done enough, and therefore he has failed the quirk that he was blessed with and failed the people who have helped him. The sentiment that he needs to hurt himself, or even nearly get himself killed, is incredibly concerning and could even be seen as suicidal ideology. Furthermore, this ideology creates an intense fear that follows Izuku wherever he goes, and even causes him to blame himself in scenarios where it’s not his fault at all, such as the summer camp arc where he was nearly killed by muscular, yet still beats himself up over Bakugo’s capture.

Another development that occurs at the beginning of Izuku’s time at UA is the start of an insurmountable amount of pressure being placed on his shoulders. When Izuku first received One For All, he was told that he could use the quirk to achieve his dreams of being a hero. He knew nothing of its past, and was given no indication that he had to live up to it. Yet, during the tournament arc Allmight begins mentioning the idea of Izuku becoming the next symbol of peace. While an honor to have, being the number one hero and an international symbol was not what Izuku, a fourteen year old kid at the time of the sludge villian attack, signed up for. Yet, he takes on the responsibility with a nervous smile on his face, and the shadow of all might begins following him. Next, he learned about the horrifying figure that is All For One, and Izuku is told that he may have to fight him one day; He may have to fight someone that he had previously thought to be nothing more than an urban legend. The child who wanted to become a hero now has to be prepared to fight the demon lord. Moreover, these revelations begin the process of Izuku placing more and more pressure on himself to be the best hero possible. He cannot afford to make a mistake. He cannot afford to be useless, because the legacy of One For All demands that he be exceptional. Afterall, he’s the ninth user. Do the wants of Izuku Midoriya really matter more than the fate of the world?

During all of this, Izuku slowly becomes more comfortable with his quirk, and grows in confidence. He truly becomes equals with Bakugo and works with him to mend their relationship, and he also develops his shoot style in an effort to move away from imitating All might. These things are all possible development for Izuku’s character and also gradually take place as the series goes on. After so many years of being quiet, he finally opens himself up again; He opens himself up to love from his peers, and opens himself up to new experiences. He also becomes more willing to talk back to others, as demonstrated by his attitude towards Endeavor, and later his more frequent and friendly banter with Bakugo. However, the self esteem issues and insecurities never go away, and Deku still breaks himself every chance he gets. The pressure also still continues to build as Allmight retires, and Izuku becomes truly trapped in his role as the successor. He accepts his role, and is happy to be serving others, but Allmight’s retirement leaves a void that Izuku feels as though there is no one else left to fill but himself. There’s no backing out now, and Izuku’s quirk development now has to speed up or else he will never be able to fill that void. He also witnesses the might of All For One in person, and the nightmare of him having to face the demon lord becomes even more of a reality. Through all of this, Izuku still refuses to talk about his feelings with his peers or the adults around him, and instead he decides to keep marching forward without taking any time to let himself, or his mind, rest. The only sliver of hope for Izuku’s mental well-being is the fact that he still allows himself to cry. Therefore, the shadow of responsibility that followed Izuku morphs into a massive weight on his shoulders that helps to steer his development backwards and into character regression.

Izuku’s mental health then takes a turn for the worst after the Overhaul arc, which was also a turning point for the series with its dark tone. As Izuku sees for himself the real horrors of the criminal underground, he once again blames himself for Eri’s circumstances and his inability to save someone. Through this experience, Izuku becomes so entrenched in the idea of becoming the perfect hero that he even begins denying himself the right to cry. He says that “heroes don’t cry”, and other characters such as Todoroki are shocked at the statement by their friend. Crying was one of Deku’s last healthy coping mechanisms, and he loses that too. Nighteye’s death cements this fact, as it is actually the last time that Deku sincerely cries in series, before the end of vigilante arc. All other times that he cries moving forward form this point are played off as gags, and thus Izuku represses his emotions to an extent that is even foreign to him, as someone who has been suppressing his emotions since he was a small child. It should also be noted that this arc highlight’s Deku’s uncertainty as a holder of One For All. This shows that no matter how much Deku’s confidence improves, he will continuously view himself as not good enough and fear the return of the former “useless” Deku. In addition, the overhaul arc also highlights Izuku’s loss of innocence. As I said before, Izuku is exposed to the true cruelties & horrors of the villian underground, but this development is not new. Dating back to the Stain arc, Izuku has been gradually losing more and more of his innocence. Even when he endured a very difficult childhood, Deku was at least able to told onto hope and be optimistic for the future, but being thrusted into the world of heroes takes the bright eyes boy and chips away at his soul. He keeps going, because as always he refuses to give himself time to heal, but the Izuku at the end of the Overhaul arc is not the same person as we was when he first enrolled in UA, and he never will be again. The fear, responsibility, and loss of innocence all culminate to send the mental health of Izuku Midoriya into a free fall, but he would never admit it. Instead, he keeps on smiling.

We are getting close to the vigilante arc (I hope you’ve been enjoying this so far!), but one final significant development in Izuku’s mental state occurs during the Class 1-A and Class 2-A training session, where he is once again given responsibilities that he never asked for. At this point, Izuku’s confidence has grown exponentially, but on further inspection much of that confidence seems to be misplaced. You see, while Izuku becomes extremely confident in his use of One For All, he still remains insecure about himself as an individual. He still lives in fear of being useless, and constantly needs to prove himself. This is because Izuku Midoriya the individual is being slowly left behind, while the Deku the hero becomes comfortable with his quirk because if he can’t master his quirk then he has nothing. He is nothing… Then Blackwhip appears, and Izuku has to relearn his quirk even though he had already been working fro months to get to to the place he’s currently at. It feels like a slap to the face, but now that Izuku has now more formally met the vestiges, he’s given no choice but to accept his new quirks in addition to his role in “completing One For All,” as The 1st user puts it. Izuku Midoriya fades even more, the incredible amount of responsibility grows even more, and the hero Deku sees himself as nothing else but the ninth holder. Most of this understanding of Izuku’s mental state is not actually spoken of out loud in the manga/anime, but the context clues of the events leading up to this moment (as shown by all the writing before this), Izuku’s facial expressions, and the events afterward help strip away the smile that Izuku is so determined to keep on his face almost the entire arc and show high Izuku’s walls have grown around his internal anguish. Therefore, the metaphorical vault shown that Izuku uses to lock away his quirks is also used to lock away his emotions once and for all. The only leak in this facade that we have until the end of the vigilante arc is…

Izuku’s character regression has already been set in stone by the time the war arc comes around, but what is important to note is how his repressed emotions manifest in the form of his intense rage. We’ve seen this before, with how Izuku becomes incredibly intimidating and unhinged during his fights with villains such as Muscular and Stain. All For One’s theme even plays in the anime as Izuku fights Overhaul to represent how monstrous he is int eh eyes of villains during battle. The difference during this arc is that other characters are finally catching on to just how toxic Izuku’s ideology has become. Bakugo in particular takes takes note of just how not ok it is for Izuku to not take himself into account, and shows visible concern while Izuku fights with Shigaraki in the air. Not only is Izuku being destructive to himself, but he also lashes out so harshly that is seems though he intends to kill Shigaraki in the moment. But to Izuku, he has no other choice. He is Deku, a hero, and the Deku who always does his best. Deku himself veery clearly states during this arc that he will no longer be the useless deku, and with that statement he resolves to kill the remnants of Izuku Midoriya, the quirkiness kid with bright eyes, himself. He cannot afford to be useless. He refuses. He will kill himself during this fight with Shigaraki if that’s what it takes to be a hero who saves everyone and a hero who is worthy of being the ninth holder of one for all. Finally, everything has come full circle, and the name Deku starts as something negative, then is given hope to become something positive, but then once again becomes a toxic image within Izuku’s life. That is why it is so important when Izuku is called by his first name in the vigilante arc— because Izuku Midoriya, both the quirkiness child and the current person, are deserving of love and have value beyond their quirk. Izuku is more than One For All, but unfortunately all of his repressed emotions that have been highlighted throughout this entire analysis have to explode out of him in order for him to heal. In addition, Deku and the repression of his emotions has led him to push everyone else away, even back when he was smiling nonstop. The war arc simply showcases ho bad that seclusion has gotten, and that when it comes down to it Deku will purposely exclude his peers in order to suffer alone.

Izuku, in the vigilante arc, will simply be the ninth holder of One For All, whose only purpose and value lies in defeating All For One himself. Furthermore, at the center of this entire discussion, is the fact that Izuku is afraid of his past. All of his self esteem issues come from such a young age, and yet he does not know what else to do besides run from it. Izuku Midoriya is a character that is so defined by his past, yet is so desperate to escape it. Therefore, he will need to be reminded by his loved ones that the cycle of trauma that he has endured throughout his life does not have to continue. He can choose his own way. He is not shackled by his past, and thus healing is possible. It’s not too late, and all he needs is his friends to remind him of why he is loved for his heart, and not his quirk. Therefore there is no singular character that got through to Deku. All of 1-A saved the boy who was so desperate to save anyone but himself.

With that said…

Deku’s entire arc throughout the series leading up to the vigilante arc has been filled with regression, in the sense that the heros around him place more and more pressure on him to the point that he does not consider himself human, but rather a tool that has no value outside of One For All. This is the story of a boy that becomes the greatest hero, but also of a boy that was stripped of his innocence and beaten down by a system that rejected him since the beginning, yet he still dreamed of being a part of. The entire vigilante/villain hunt arc brings together all of the pent up pain and self-loathing that has been following him since the beginning of the series, and shows how everything that he’s been hiding has finally caught up to him. The pain and trauma that we see from Izuku in this arc was always there, and all it took was the war arc to trigger it to come forward. In conclusion, Izuku Midoriya is an extremely complicated character who has been on a fascinating downward spiral since the beginning of the series, and if readers can take the time to see how he got to where he is, then maybe we can at least better understand the context behind the vigilante/villain hunt arc, and the complexity behind My Hero Academia’s protagonist.

Credit to @mettywiththenotes for having the post that inspired this essay, and that I originally had the conclusion of this analysis posted under as a reblog. Also credit to @pikahlua’s mha discord server that I’m in for encouraging me to write this!!!

319 notes · View notes

ecargmura · 4 months

Text

Cherry Magic Episode 4 Review - You're A Wizard, Tsuge

As the first half of the episode has shown, Tsuge has become a wizard now. Like Adachi, he has gained the power to listen to people’s hearts. How will Tsuge use this to find a love interest? Well, he found one already. That was darn freaking fast. Who does he fall in love with? The cute deliveryman Minato.

I think their ship name is called Tsugemina. Anyways, Tsugemina’s portrayal in the live action is a bit exaggerated compared to the manga and anime (which are pretty much identical). In the live action, Tsuge is very dramatic when he falls for Minato and when he realized he’s in love, he actually bashes his head against a bookshelf. When I watched the live action, I thought that Tsuge was a bit of a weirdo, but reading the manga and watching the anime made me realize that the way Tsuge is portrayed here is more faithful as he is a stoic man by nature. While the Tsugemina section seems short, that’s because the Tsuge chapters are pretty short in comparison to the main couple; there aren’t a lot too, so who knows when we’ll get another segment of them in future episodes.

I do like the Tsuge and Adachi scene. As Tsuge is a novice wizard, he’s unsure how to make use of the power, but for Adachi, the power has brought good things into his life; Tsuge even notices this too as Adachi has become a bit more talkative, especially when the topic revolves around Kurosawa. In the manga, this scene actually takes some time after the second Tsugemina scene as Adachi had mentioned that he read Tsuge’s new book and noticed the change in his usual heroine types as he added in a heroine with the exact same description as Minato, showcasing how down bad he is for this guy he barely knows (heck, he doesn’t even know his name until later on). Despite the changes, I do like the scene but I dislike the fact that Tsuge gets blocked from the chances he gets to talk to Adachi about the magic.

After Tsuge and Adachi meet up, the episode then shifts to Adachi being the focus character, which I think is a rather good way to transition. Adachi gets jealous for the first time when he sees a pretty lady talking with Kurosawa and starts getting insecure about himself. Despite his jealousy, he does realize that if he did get jealous of that woman, that means he does like Kurosawa in that way. I do like how he was fast to process that and accepted it right away. It sort of shows that even if he doesn’t have romantic experiences, he’s still mature enough to understand what love is.

It’s kind of sad to see why Adachi’s so hesitant towards romance. I sort of get it. If I heard someone say that it’s impossible to date me because of the lack of experience, I’d get insecure too. I’m glad that Kurosawa exists to show that Adachi can be loved no matter how much he adverses romance. The part where Kurosawa comes over to his house was sweet; however, how the heck did he know his address? The way Kurosawa thought about how he’d cherish all of Adachi’s first was heartwarming. I legit stomped my feet in a giddy mood. Why is this anime so cute? Why are they so cute?

No worries, though. The pretty lady happens to be Kurosawa’s sister, Mari. She’s hilarious as she feels like a typical older sibling trying to pester her brother to get what she wants: to stay at Kurosawa’s place until her boyfriend apologizes to her. She even followed him to Adachi’s house via GPS. I do like how Kurosawa feels like a bullied little brother here. She is also good with words as she managed to convince Kurosawa to stay at Adachi’s house, to which his simp self accepts after fantasizing a domestic AU he conjured up in his mind. Haha, he’s such a simp.

Oh and uh, the voice actor trivia of the week is that Gen Sato, Minato’s VA, only has done BL recently. Like out of the four main cast, he has the least amount of experience in BL media but I’m sure that’ll change. In the drama CD, he was voiced by Kouhei Amasaki.

What are your thoughts on the birth of the side couple? How about Mari as a character? What about the whole Kurodachi segment? What did you think about the episode as a whole?

#cherry magic #cherry maho #cherry magic anime #cherry magic 30 years of virginity can make you a wizard #Adachi kiyoshi #Kurosawa yuichi #Tsuge masato #Wataya minato #Kurosawa mari #udon #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal

12 notes · View notes

yourreality-mp3 · 2 months

Text

Obviously, Yuri is a very shy person and Natsuki is a very outspoken person and they have clashing views or at least...they used to.

Their views used to clash and they'd get into very messy fights, one evening, after club, even nearly escalating to physical with Yuri getting so uncharacteristically upset that she bashed her fists down on a desk and shockingly, startled Natsuki into complete silence.

"Story Telling." - A Natsuri (Natsuki x Yuri) fanfic by yourreality-mp3

Part 1- "Conflict."

(Before the masterlist comes out, to read more; go to my blog and press on the tag "story telling" it will lead you to every part)

Both girls froze immediately until Natsuki gradually broke down crying and yelled for Yuri to leave her alone. Scared but not wanting to escalate things any further, Yuri did as she was asked and walked around the second floor of the school for about 10 minutes, overthinking and afraid that she had caused some terrible downfall to the club and that she hurt Natsuki.

Calming from her panicked state, she slowly opened the club room door and seen Natsuki hunched over with the quiet sound of her sobbing resounding in the room. "Natsuki?" Yuri slowly stepped toward her and got on her knees, "Is it okay if I-" Yuri began to ask, hands stopping just before reaching Natsuki's shoulders, Natsuki reluctantly nods and so, Yuri places her hands on the crumpled up Natsuki's shoulders. Natsuki's balled fists of anger and sadness uncurled as she moved herself to sit up on her knees.

"I'm fine." Natsuki spoke shakily, cold tears being wiped by Yuri's long fingers. "I'm sor-" Yuri went to apologize but Natsuki just shook her head slowly. "It's okay. It's my fault anyway." Natsuki's body shuffles and she rests her hands on her face, "I was stupid to have broken down in the first place." Her voice seemed to be getting more clear.

"You also don't need to help me, I don't need anyone's help." Natsuki slowly rose up and walked toward a window, wiping her cheek stained with tears and taking a breath, Yuri slowly followed. "You know," Yuri rubs her arm, "It's okay to want help." Yuri walks toward her slowly, Natsuki seems to ponder.

"I don't..." Natsuki's eyes water and she grips the window cill. "Fine!" She shouts, trying to avoid the tears that are already falling, "Fine." She repeats, somberly. Yuri makes her way to Natsuki's side and they stare out the window at the golden setting sun. "It's getting late." Yuri comments, Natsuki nods.

"I don't really want to talk about it just yet." Natsuki rubs her arm, feeling the several bandaids underneath her uniform, at one point feeling at a bruise and wincing. "That's okay." Yuri says, "It's hard to want to talk about something that hurts you, especially if you've never said anything about it before." Neither of the girls look at each other but Natsuki reluctantly hits her pinky against Yuris' and they interlock.

Before the doors to the school locked, the two girls exited with their pinkies interlocked. "I don't really want to head home too quickly." Natsuki mentioned after a long bout of silence. "Let's take the scenic route then." Yuri began to walk Natsuki through the bushy path that led to a park filled with beautiful large trees and a garden filled with flowers. It was beautiful at this time in the evening and it was a place that Yuri would visit frequently and it always managed to calm her nerves.

Yuri brought Natsuki to a bench and they both sat, "Did you bring a book you haven't read yet?" Yuri asked, fishing around her bag for the 4th installment in a book series she was passionate about. "Nah, I've read practically my whole collection." Natsuki puts her bag on her lap and opens it, "That's what makes me a pro manga connoisseur!" She giggles triumphantly and Yuri smiles gently at the sight of her acting like her usual self and even blushes a bit at Natsuki's use of a word she'd clearly learnt from Yuri.

"But reading the same stuff is kinda bumming me out." Natsuki adds, Yuri thinks for a moment before remembering how Sayori left all her notes in the first volume of the book series Yuri was about to read the 4th volume for and digs in her bag, "I know it's probably very boring to you but I have the first book of my series if you want to read that." Yuri fishes it out and rests it on her lap.

Natsuki looks down at the dusty old novel filled with coloured sticky notes and cringes at it, knowing it'll be too much for her to really want to grasp but then she thought of something. "If I read that, you have to read the first edition of my favourite manga." Natsuki, in turn, fishes around in her own bag and pulls out the first manga in a set; the cover has cute girls in cute outfits, all of it is amazingly eye catching and pastel and it's a little bit intimidating to Yuri at first glance but they both take each other's books.

"Crap!" Natsuki's phone rings and she quickly pulls it from her pocket, breaking Yuri's sudden immersion in the manga and snapping her attention to the other girl. Natsuki walks away, talking into the phone for a minute and then coming back, "I have to head home now." Yuri nods and they both silently put each other's books into their respective bags to continue reading them at home. They each have their bags swung over a shoulder and their pinkies interlocked again as they walk.

About 20 minutes later, they've made it just a block away from Natsuki's place and suddenly, Natsuki wraps her arms around Yuri, "Y-you really should ask before doing touching someone without permission!" Yuri yelps out, but slowly puts her arms around Natsuki and that moment of shock fades. "Thanks." Natsuki mumbles, "Of course." Yuri replies, still timid and just as fast as Natsuki's warm arms were around Yuri, they were gone, leaving Yuri a little dazed as she watched the other girl walk down the sidewalk.

"I'll kill you if a single page gets bent!" Natsuki yells, making Yuri blink and then she realizes Natsuki's manga was still in her bag and reaches out her arm to give it back but then, she stops herself and walks home...

Could this be the start of a budding friendship? Or maybe even, a budding romance?! Find out more next time when the chapters release!

14 notes · View notes

trigun-archive · 1 year

Text

Omg, I just realized something that’s not gonna add much to the narrative or if anyone has noticed it.

Here we go.

So basically in episode 12, Vash did his girlboss move of flinging himself and Nai over the ledge.

And as they’re falling, I noticed something:

To me, this reminds of the Yin Yang symbol:

Then I remember that one post where someone mentioned where Vash in episode 12 wore the colors of ‘evil’ (black and purple).

Knives wore the colors of ‘good’ (white and blue).

They’re polar opposites of one another.

And that got me thinking more in depth with their relation with Yin Yang.

Obviously everyone is familiar with two sides of the same coin. It’s the same idea with Yin Yang, they’re polar opposites but they complement each other.

As part of the Naruto fandom (*groans*, I know I know). But hear me out, lots of symbolism that is related to Naruto and Sasuke is their relation to the sun and moon respectively.

Naruto is the sun. The Yang per say, because he is bright, aggressive and masculine. His respective color is orange.

While Sasuke is the moon. The Yin, because he is with the shadows, silent and feminine. His respective color is purple.

If you read the Naruto manga, then you would see how much Kishimoto bashes your head in with their respective symbolism, it’s in the cover art, the parallelism in the panels. It even showed up as their respective symbols on their hands after the ceremony for the final battle.

Back to TriStamp.

I believe they put Knives as Yang. He is aggressive and very in your face with his conquests of taking back the Plants. He is very muscular, and it’s shown through his tight bodysuit.

Then they would put Vash as Yin. He is way less aggressive with his morals than his previous counterparts. Obviously he still has them, but he is less forthcoming. His entire character design has changed, as everyone says with his non-binary haircut.

But in certain scenes, he still has those broad shoulders and managed to lift a fucking ion cannon enough to break his prosthetic arm. So, my babygirl is still fucking strong, hmph.

It’s even mentioned that the director of TriStamp has said Vash is both the female and male lead.

Same thing with Sasuke, some Studio Perriot staff has stated that he is the heroine of the story.

Obviously Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship heavily implies they’re in love with each other and soulmate coded to the max.

(Ha, get it? Trigun MAXimum??)

(. . ., I’ll see myself out).

But they did a different relationship of Yin Yang:

Twins.

Knives wanted desperately Vash to be the ‘perfect’ version that he envisioned. Taking away Vash’s bodily autonomy.

Vash just wanted to have ‘love and peace’ in the world. He didn’t want to fight Knvies, but he would defend his loved ones.

Until during episode 12, when he was ready to go in guns blazing to take down Knives.

With the color palette of black and purple against Knives’s white and blue.

Purple is the combination of red and blue. Vash’s red jacket and part of Knives’s color palette.

But also in the end, when Vash wanted to shoot that cube up in the sky.

He still wanted to save his brother, even though Knives was rejecting it by reaching to the absolute power of the cube and what it would bring him and Plant kind.

An Icarus-esque trope per say.

But yeah, anyways, this was just a jumble of thoughts I had to immediately write this down.

#trigun #trigun stampede #TriStamp #vash the stampede #million knives #trigun analysis #honestly was rewatching the scene both of them were falling and saw that symbol on the side of the building #and my brain immediately went yin and Yang #and then started thinking how the twins are correlated with it #and that made me think of their color palette #Knives is very bright and contrasted against Vash’s dark color palette #so smth with the sun and moon in some capacity #and made me think of Naruto with its sun and moon imagery in SNS #and this came out #probably doesn’t mean much to the idea but if it made you think of smth else #I’m glad it did smth lol #and the Icarus trope from Knives also came out when I was typing this #because I think of the desperation of Knives trying to get the cube #the one possible answer for his actions #but in the end he got burned #real bad

44 notes · View notes

tempest-loupnoir · 4 months

Text

Reasons why Robert E. O. Speedwagon is in my opinion, the best character in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures and one of my favorite characters I’ve gotten to know in recent years.

One: Speedwagon would have been a terrifying gang boss in any show that did not involve supernatural freaks and zombies. He Clobbered zombies with a sledgehammer. Which he could swing with One Hand! Just his hand! Do you know how heavy a sledgehammer is?! I’m average sized with average upper body strength and I could barely lift it off the ground with both hands and my back put into it. Speedwagon makes that chunk of rock look weightless.

Speedwagon is a sharp shooter. He sniped Dio right above the eye In The Dark. That would have been the end of their troubles then and there if Dio didn’t already have Plot Armor with a freaky acupuncture vampire-making mask.

Speedwagon has precise control over a sawblade projectile that he could catch and toss with just His Head! He knew exactly when and how to flip it onto his head with a flick of his finger after making it boomerang around him In A Blizzard! And he threw it with perfect accuracy across several meters in said snowstorm, with enough force to cut through a very beefy arm and hit bone. While He himself was dodging a knife that was kicked at his face! He still cut a man with his hat, even after dodging and having his aim thrown off! Can you imagine fighting a guy with that kind of eye for causing the most damage to you possible with long ranged weapons? The scariest types of characters to fight in battle games are the ones that can take away health points without being in your range to fight them or block their melees! And he was ready to fight with his fists, too! He probably had several knives hidden on him.

Speedwagon’s home street was the most dangerous place in Victorian London. London was the culture hub for both Europe and the United States back then. He had at least 35 men in the anime under his command, many of them designed to resemble serial killers in pop culture movies like Jason, Freddy Krueger, and Edward Scissorhands. He had a martial arts master as his backup and best friend. He had a homemade car! In 1888! Before most rich people had cars! Speedwagon was the boss of the most deadly gang in a very influential area, and he had connections with people all over England. He knew about the murders and disappearances in Wind Knight’s Lot, all the way in Southern England Before Baron Zeppeli did!

In the manga, Speedwagon flipped backwards from the roof of the carriage through an open window into the carriage. A move he likely practiced for robbing moving carriages back home… He bashed in a zombie’s skull with the sledgehammer mentioned earlier while surrounded by an army of them, and was not shown with any wounds or fear during the fight.

He climbed a stone wall and a multi story building at 1 am in the blustery cold of a December night with no lights to guide him, sporting a broken arm in a cast and sling, plus broken ribs and internal injuries (we were told a piece of bone pierced his lung early in the first battle against Dio). All because he Had to make sure his new friend did not succumb to depression and die. All he wanted to do was hold Jonathan’s hand and tell him he wasn’t alone.

Speedwagon’s trademark scar likely took many months to heal from. At a time when poor men like him wouldn’t be able to get good medical care, If any, and also hospital sanitation was completely absent. The dub has him mention Florence Nightingale, the nurse who first told medical workers that they needed to wash their hands and tools before doing surgery and while treating patients… Just imagining the kind of dismal sanitation back then, when raw sewage was still dumped in the Thames river… UGH. And Speedwagon bore that scar for life. It had to have affected how he ate, drank, spoke, and slept. This man is the poster child for Tough and Gritty characters.

His greatest super power? His keen eye! He figured things out in a glance, hence his narrating what’s happening (which was necessary in the manga since the manga is a bit confusing to follow with all the sound effects and gore flying). Even 75 year old Speedwagon was able to figure out a supernatural foe he’d never seen before was using a wind vortex to injure Caesar. He warned Caesar, a Hamon warrior who specialized in using air for his attacks, that he needed to close his eyes to avoid losing them! 75 year old Speedwagon with a brain injury still needed a straitjacket to keep him from committing (trigger warning!) suicide off camera with a piece of glass he hid in his hand, and he was still fiery tempered and determined to fight Nazis with all his might! He Only worked with them when the whole world was at stake and the only thing he gave them besides Hell was giant flashlights. That’s it. Giant UV flashlights. He didn’t even want help when he was stuck in a straitjacket watching a supernatural giant consume and destroy an entire army of Nazis. Speedwagon has a very strict moral code.

Two: Speedwagon also was ahead of his time as far as racial tensions go. You can see Asians, black men, etc in his gang, and just like Erina Joestar, he was quick to accept/adopt an orphan African American teenage thief on the street simply because he was kind. Speedwagon would have related to Smokey’s background and his determination to stand by his friend, even though they were both hopelessly incapable of lifting so much as a finger against their super-powered supernatural foes, and he made sure that boy stayed safe. No Nazis were going to hurt his friend!

75 year old Speedwagon was still Strong As Heck to hold an unconscious 6 foot tall muscular warrior woman in his arms without staggering.

He traveled around the world before he turned 25. He worked his backside off trying to provide for a widow and two children on his own, and could not manage it, so one of the babies had to go to a monk friend. He no longer wanted to stab and rob people for a living, so the only way he could earn enough through honest means was to find a raw material in high demand before someone else did and stake a claim on it. He had a super keen sense of smell and that likely helped him find the undiscovered oil reserve while he was crawling around, penniless, in the Texas desert under a scorching sun. He nearly died trying to provide for Erina and George 2. The fact that he was smart enough to start his own business instead of selling out to the first plonker to offer him a fat check, and he figured out how to work with those same pricks who used to snub him when he was a thief and beggar, speaks a lot to his adaptability and observation skills.

Three: He didn’t let becoming a billionaire overnight change him! He provided for his slum friends, too. They had better clothes when they saw Jonathan off on his honeymoon, and it’s likely they were Speedwagon’s first employees when he decided to navigate politics and try to make a nonprofit organization for medicine, archaeology, habitat and cultural preservation for animals and people (he knew what it was like to lose everything; there is no way he’d turn his back on people being slaughtered for eugenics during WW1. He likely tried to help evacuate and protect people during that). And because he knew someone made that mask that ruined the Joestars’ lives, he kept searching for other supernatural threats to humanity. He was humanity’s first line of defense, just like SHIELD in Marvel comics, and he did it quietly without government assistance or journalists documenting his progress.

Because of Speedwagon and the Joestars, Georgia got its first black mayor before desegregation happened in the United States. Because of Speedwagon and the Joestars, humanity was spared from a cruise ship full of zombies that would have eaten New York City first in 1889, and then plagued and brought down the entire United States in months, and they stopped even more powerful vampires from feeding on the entire world in 1920. (And kept that power out of Nazi hands). He protected the identity of the Hamon clan, too. The Nazis would not have known about it if Caesar had kept his mouth shut.

Four: Speedwagon’s legacy is so powerful that even in an alternate universe where he never met Johnny Joestar, he still started his Foundation to help people, and his Foundation still ended up entwined with the Joestar family. His legacy helped the Joestars in the mainverse for over a century, and it has the same potential in the new verse, an alternate world where previous characters and their traits are mixed with others. For Speedwagon to still be Speedwagon and still have the same destiny, even though everyone else (except spoilers for Jojolands) and everything else was completely changed… That says something, doesn’t it? The author might not ever use Speedwagon again but his name has been in eight of the nine stories so far. That’s more than any other character Araki created.

#Robert E. O. Speedwagon appreciation post #jjba part one character analysis #long post

7 notes · View notes

nanaosaki3940 · 2 years

Text

A Condition Called Love [Tokyo Revengers]

|| Tokyo Revengers ||(Almost follows the canon storyline of TR & is up-to-date with the manga.)

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst.

Warning: Age-gap romance (no smut), blood, gore, strong language, unrequited love.

(I know this is an xOC fic, but you can read it as a self-insert if you like)

TR masterlist

"The depth of the sky's blue color is our love and only over the years will we notice the hue's strength; up close it is as clear as pure water, yet when we see the miles, it is the blue of fairytale dreams. I'm not perfect, but I'd follow you into hell if that's what it took to keep you safe. I am your protector as you are mine, one to shield the other. I'll stay with you as you stay with me, trust in you as you trust in me, and together we'll ride through every storm, waiting to see what the new dawn may bring."

- Shinichiro Sano

~~~~~

(March 14, 1998 - White Day)

"Please be my girlfriend!"

Just now, at a neighborhood park, Shinichiro Sano, an 18-year-old 3rd-year high schooler, also famously known around Tokyo as the commander of the delinquent gang Black Dragons, asked out one of the prettiest girls in his school to be his girlfriend. Within this 18-year of his lifespan, this was the 20th time the Sano boy was confessing his romantic feelings to a girl he liked. It happened previously in the past as well, where he confessed his feelings to different other girls from time to time, but unfortunately for him, got rejected each and every time. Even after seeking out help and advice from his three best friends (Takeomi Akashi, Wakasa Imaushi, and Keizo Arashi aka Benkei), for some reason, none of his confessions ever worked.

But this time, it would work, right? A simple man like Shinichiro can only dream.

"It's been 7 months since we met..." he added with a bashful smile, eyes twinkling in anticipation as he held out a bouquet of red roses and a jewelry box that had an expensive bracelet in it. "So I wanted to make this a special day. Please accept these."

"What are you saying?" the girl in question asked him, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

And hearing that, Shinichiro immediately went stiff on his spot in shock.

"Huh?" he questioned back with a puzzled look on his face before a worried smile curled up to his lips. "Eh? Are you worried about the cost of the bracelet? I have enough to buy one..."

"No, that's not it." the girl replied, slightly shaking her head. "I already have a boyfriend..."

"Huh?! What?!" Shinichiro exclaimed out in shock, his eyes widening even more in fraction, his voice sounding panicked. "Wait... We have gone out so many times for dinners and movies. You took photos with me and exclaimed, "wow, this is fun!". No matter how you look at it, you had feelings for me, right? Or were you faking your happiness all alone?! You even gave me Valentine's chocolate this year!"

"Well, that is because you are my friend. Isn't it obvious?" the girl stated, tilting her head to the side. "And I gave chocolates to all my friends at school, Sano..."

Wow... Now, Shinichiro started to feel like a pathetic loser. He seriously wanted to cry at that moment.

'What's wrong with me?' he thought to himself, wanting his smash his head against a wall in embarrassment.

"Ah, anyway, Sano, I've to go now... It's time to meet my boyfriend. See you later! Bye!"

And it didn't take long before the girl walked away from his line of sight.

"Wait- you must be kidding..." he mumbled to himself, still standing in the middle of the park with those roses and that expensive jewelry in his hands.

Shinichiro Sano got rejected again and this was the 20th time in a row consecutively.

'Just give up, Shin. You're gonna die a virgin.' Takeomi's words which were ringing over and over again in his head weren't helping his situation at all at that moment.

"He got dumped?"

"Ugh, so lame!"

"What about those gifts in his hands?"

"So funny!"

Now even the unknown people in the park who were watching the whole scene get unfolded started to mumble to themselves. People sure can be really mean sometimes.

"Wow, Shin-chan, you're so lame." A familiar feminine voice of a little girl suddenly spoke from behind the Sano boy, causing him to yelp out in surprise before spinning around to face her.

"Nana-chan!" he gasped out, his onyx eyes made contact with her brownish amber ones, finding her standing there with her schoolbag hanging on her shoulders.

Nana Osaki, an 8-year-old little girl who was the same age as Shinichiro's younger brother, Manjiro Sano, was one of his childhood friends. She used to live in a small house just beside the Sano residence with her parents ever since her birth until two years ago when both of her parents died in a car accident and had been living with the Sanos ever since then. Her relatives didn't want to take her in, considering that she might be a burden to them and Shinichiro was someone who couldn't let go of Nana just like that.

Where will she go? Where will she live? And with whom? What will she eat? Her future? Her education? Her career?

Her relatives might have abandoned her, but that didn't mean Shinichiro (a concerned friend, and neighbor that he was) would do the same thing as well. He was just too kind and soft-hearted. On top of that, the Sanos and the Osakis had been family friends for generations now, meaning that Nana had known the Sano family forever. On the other hand, similar to Shinichiro, Grandpa Sano also didn't mind taking Nana in, given that her late father, Daisuke Osaki was his former student at his family dojo and had always considered little Nana as one of his grandchildren.

And so ever since her parents' death, the Sanos became her family.

"Shin-chan, please stop it." little Nana deadpanned at the teen Sano boy who was bowing in front of her in a pleading manner.

"How much should I pay you, Nana-chan?" he asked, looking up at her. "I don't have much with me right now."

"What are you talking about?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, you saw me getting dumped... And you might feel like telling it to everyone..." Shinichiro whispered out, rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish manner.

"I won't do such things, Shin-chan. I won't tell that a grown-up hopeless guy like you got dumped straight to his face again and cried in the end..." she stated out bluntly, stabbing him right into the heart with those cold, harsh words.

Shinichiro Sano's remaining HP: Zero.

Although for some people this might seem comical, Nana still couldn't understand why girls would reject someone like Shinichiro Sano. The boy was beautiful that's for sure. Short black hair with black eyes, fair skin with slim, tall stature; the older Sano boy without a doubt was cute and attractive. Not to mention, he had a very charming personality.

Depicted as "weak to women, weak in fights, but reliable.", Shinichiro was a notorious delinquent with an unequaled reputation who garnered the respect of many delinquents, both inside his gang and those of rival gangs. Although he was a terrible fighter, his caring personality and ability to stand up for others, along with his humble nature earned him the loyalty of many delinquents much stronger than him. As a result of this elevated status, the delinquents displayed nothing but respect towards Shinichiro. He always saw the good in people and hoped for them to be led on the right path in life instead of walking alone. Shinichiro was a kind person who could look out for others, particularly his family whom he loved dearly, teaching his younger siblings about delinquency, fashion, and bikes amongst other things. Though there were times when Grandpa Sano would mildly get annoyed with Shinichiro's tendency to avoid dojo training as he believed it a chore.

Then why did the girls reject him? Couldn't they see the good in him like how Nana always saw in him? Shinichiro was a kind individual and for that Nana liked him a lot, so then why can't the other girls? It was really frustrating sometimes.

"Why were you walking home all alone earlier, Nana-chan?" Shinichiro asked, causing the Osaki girl to snap out of her trance as they made their way toward the Sano residence. "Where's Manjiro?"

"Ran off to God knows where with Ken-chan and Kei-chan after school..." Nana replied with a shrug, referring to her other childhood friends Ken Ryuguji and Keisuke Baji, and Shinichiro let out a small chuckle in response.

"That's Manjiro to you, I guess..." he hummed out.

"Hey, Shin-chan?" Nana called out, looking up at that tall boy beside her. "Why are you so desperate to find a girlfriend?"

"Huh?" Shinichiro looked down at the little girl in surprise.

"That girl from earlier... What was it about her that you liked anyway?" Nana questioned, her voice filled with genuine curiosity.

"Where is this even coming from?" he asked back in confusion.

"Just answer me..." she demanded.

"Umm... she was pretty?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"An answer...? Also, she's very nice and sweet and..." Shinichiro went on and on about that previous crush of his.

Then a moment later Nana interrupted him by asking him another question.

"But did you love her from the bottom of your heart?" she questioned and Shinichiro immediately stopped walking. "How much do you know about her? What's her favorite color? What's her favorite flower? Her favorite movie? Her favorite song? What does she like to eat? What's her hobby? Her future plans? How long have you known each other?..."

But Shinichiro couldn't respond back to any of those and kept on staring at Nana in surprise, remaining completely silent.

"Okay let's say you know everything about her... But how much does she know about you, Shin-chan? Your favorites? Your likes and dislikes? Your good qualities? Your insecurities? Does she even like you the way you do? Have you ever shared any special moment with her? Have you ever gone up to her and complained about your bad days? Have you ever cried on her shoulders? Has she ever held your hands when you were lonely and given you comfort? Did you ever find her by your side when you needed her the most?..."

"That's some serious stuff you're saying, Nana-chan..." Shinichiro chuckled out sheepishly, running a hand through his raven locks.

"What I'm trying to say is that - don't just go and confess your feelings to whoever you find pretty and attractive..." the little girl let out a sigh, closing her eyes momentarily.

Hearing her words, Shinichiro let out another amused chuckle. That was so like Nana Osaki; always looking through the facade and diving into the deepest, darkest part of one's soul. She always read him like an open book and for that, he could never hide anything from her. Nana knew him like the back of her hand; so perfect and precise, it was really scary sometimes. The power and advantage of knowing each other for years.

"Now you sound like some wise old lady, Nana-chan." the boy teased, his lips curling up into a smirk.

"That's good. At least I'm wiser than you, Shin-chan..." she stated and Shinichiro let out a dramatic gasp, placing a hand on the left side of his chest.

Oh, how much she loved teasing him like that.

"You hurt me, Nana-chan. You're so cruel!" he whined out with pouty lips, anime tears rolling down his cheeks and this cause the girl to roll her eyes at his antics.

"Well, if you want a girlfriend that bad, just so you know, I'm always there for you as a standby..." she added with sincerity, and immediately Shinichiro snapped his head around to look back at her with wide eyes in shock.

"HUH?!"

It felt as if the whole world stopped moving for a moment and the universe forgot its every law of physics. Did he hear that right? This little girl, who was 10 years younger than him, was the same age as his younger brother Manjiro wished to become his girlfriend? This was completely outrageous and scandalous in every maximum way possible. All of a sudden his heart started to hammer hard against his ribcage while his whole face went all red like a tomato. As if his heart would burst out of his chest any second now. Wait, why was he blushing at her proposal, not to mention an 8-year-old's proposal, making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Why did his hands become all sweaty? Why was he feeling so goddamn nervous? Was he turning into a sick pervert or something?!

Noticing his blushing state, Nana's lips curled up into a wide grin, a soft giggle eventually passing through them. Aside from his looks and personality, Nana always loved his blushing face a lot. To her, it was really cute and adorable.

"Or if you want more than that, I can just become your bride instead. And since you don't have any specific preference when it comes to women, I think I'll do just fine for you."

"WAIT?! WHAT?!"

"So, please wait for me until I become an adult, okay, Shin-chan?"

"When I see you, it's as if space and time become the finest point imaginable as if time collapses into one tiny speck and explodes at light speed. It's as if my universe begins and ends with you. I could run forever, search forever, but in the end, every path leads right back to your heart and soul. I love you, always."

- Keisuke Baji

~~~~~

7th July 2005, 6:24 PM

Right now, I was at Keisuke's apartment, helping him out with his studies and upcoming test. Keisuke Baji might not be the brightest flower on the field (certainly the prettiest of course), but he was very eager to learn. As his smarter study buddy since our elementary school days, a study date at his place was my way of saying sorry to him for ditching our yakisoba lunch date this afternoon. When I walked into the Baji residence, I was warmly welcomed by Keisuke's mother and his only parent, Ryoko Baji who greeted me with a friendly smirk and hair ruffle before she started to yell and kick Keisuke again (which she was probably doing earlier before my arrival).

Much like her son, Ryoko Baji had a violent and short-tempered nature that would quickly lead to an aggressive attitude which could be heavily suggested that Keisuke got his unpleasant traits from his mother. However, unlike her son, Ryoko was normally able to be very cool and calm at times especially towards me because, in her eyes, I was a nice and polite kid. She was also someone who would always recognize the flaws in her son and would also be really worried about him like any normal parent should.

Ryoko always disapproved of Keisuke's violent attitude and would even smack or yell at him (not in an abusive way) for his actions (and by actions I meant him getting into fights almost every day and burning down cars just because he was craving peyoung yakisoba). Despite recognizing all of Keisuke's flaws, Ryoko always desired that he would be a good boy and would do better in his studies and school.

When I met her for the first time, I was only five years old back. It was when Keisuke joined the Sano dojo a year back that he and I became really good friends and he ended up inviting me to his place so we could play together with his toys. Long black hair, sharp brown eyes, thin eyebrows, pointy canine teeth; she looked really pretty in my eyes (aside from my own mother and Mrs. Sano) and I was really amazed by her beauty.

And Keisuke got all those exact same physical features from his mother, even her hot-tempered attitude. In short, Keisuke was a mini version of his mother and it was really cute in my opinion. Upon our first meeting, I thought Ryoko was Keisuke's older sister or something like that just because she looked so young. Maybe she was one and had Keisuke at a very young age, who knows? Also, most of the time, she had this frown on her face which most likely indicated that she was always constantly worrying about her aggressive, angry son.

Ryoko was one of those cool moms who gave zero fuck to everything, like 'I don't give a fuck' sort of attitude. Single working parent who had a habit of smoking and always walked around like a boss with her head up high - that was Ryoko Baji to me and to everyone; a lady with a firm, explosive personality but underneath hid a very sensitive and caring person.

"Did Keisuke get into fights again today, Nana-chan?" she asked narrowing her eyes at me with her arms crossed over her chest.

I peeked to the side and saw Keisuke doing some weird hand gestures, telling me to lie to his mother.

"Keisuke's been a good boy at school today, Ryoko-san..." I replied, looking back at her with a convincing smile.

Even though he kicked asses of some punks on the way back home earlier today...

"Is that so, huh?" she hummed before a small smile appeared on her face. "Well, that's good then. Thank you for always taking care of that useless son of mine, Nana-chan."

"It's not a big deal, Ryoko-san." I chuckled in response.

"Mom! Why do we have only one packet of peyoung yakisoba here?!" Keisuke suddenly yelled out from the kitchen before he started to head towards the front door. "I'll quickly go and buy some yakisoba from the nearby store!"

"Oh, no you don't, mister!" Ryoko yelled back, kicking him to get inside the house again. "Nana-chan's here to tutor you, not to eat yakisoba! Don't waste her precious time, you son of a bitch! Get your ass to your room right now! And also, no yakisoba for you today cause I'm cooking dinner tonight!"

"Ouch! Stop kicking me, woman!" Keisuke yelled out again while I simply stared at the mother-son duo in amusement.

Did Ryoko-san just call herself a bitch?? Wow...

Soon after that, Keisuke and I settled down in his bedroom and we began to study, or more like I began to tutor him. When it came to studying, locations didn’t really matter to Keisuke, but somewhere quiet, with no “annoying punks” around always was the best way to get him to concentrate on his school stuff. To my own surprise, his school stuff was actually really organized - colorful folders for every subject, important documents in clear film, and so on, but unfortunately, he had zero motivation. When he would stray from his schoolbooks, I had to either kick his ass or smack him on the head to bring back his concentration, but once he would get into that “Learning Headspace”, things would go upwards from there.

Keisuke would even tie his hair up into a ponytail and put on those stupid glasses because he considered his study sessions with me a serious matter. I had to go through the entire school curriculum with him and since I already completed my second year in middle school last year, it was easy to teach him what he didn't know. However, the hardest part of the whole process was actually having him understand the content I was teaching him. Like he had trouble remembering kanji words in Japanese or events and key figures in Japanese history or phrases in English or understanding the formulae and methods of mathematics and the list goes on.

"What? Takemichi?" Keisuke asked as he looked up from his book and locked his gaze on me, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. That guy's name is Takemichi Hanagaki." I responded back with a smile. "He's weak at fighting, but the way he faced Kiyomasa... For some reason, he reminds me of Shin-chan... Manjiro took a liking to him. He's probably thinking about recruiting that guy in Toman."

Keisuke immediately went quiet for a moment before furrowing his eyebrows at me.

"So, now what? You started liking this twerp or something?" he grumbled out, sounding a bit irritated.

"Huh? What? No!" I replied, frowning back at him. "Of course not, you idiot! What are you even talking about? Takemichi might remind me of Shin-chan in a way, but he isn't my type at all. Also, I just met him today. He's a total stranger to me. I don't fall in love with strangers."

Hearing my answer, Keisuke now looked visibly relaxed.

What's wrong with him? He never behaves like this...

"So, what's your type?" he asked, leaning towards the side.

"My type?" I asked back and he nodded his head at me. "Well... someone who knows me well, someone who will accept me the way I am, someone who's loyal, honest, and respectful... I don't care about the looks, to be honest as long as the guy is nice and has a good heart."

"Is that so, huh..." he trailed off in a whispered tone as he momentarily looked away from me and stared off to space, getting lost in his thoughts.

What is he thinking now? This boy... so unpredictable...

"Okay, that's enough. Breaks over." I spoke up with a sigh causing Keisuke to snap out of his thoughts. "Let's play a game."

"We finished studying already?" he asked in confusion.

"No, we're not. You see, I'm gonna give you 50 pop quiz questions. It's about everything we went through up until now. If you get half of them correct, like 25 questions, I'll take you to a yakisoba dinner tomorrow... And if you get all of them correct, then I'll-"

"Then can I get a kiss from you?"

"I'll slap you, Keisuke."

~~~~~

August 3rd, 2005

That day after breaking and shattering almost everything Takemichi owned followed by the yellow-haired boy's sudden outburst with a piece of turd on his head, Manjiro and Draken finally decided to make up and things went back to normal like how they used to be. As long as those two weren't fighting each other and creating chaos, I didn't need to worry about anything anymore, for now at least. So I went back to my usual relaxed mood again, releasing myself from all headaches, burdens, and panics.

Then two days later after the incident at Takemichi's place, Keisuke called up and asked me if I wanted to go to the festival this year which was going to be held at the Musashi Shrine on August 3rd. I accepted his offer, thinking that it would be a great way to relax and treat myself to food and stuff while having a better chance to spend some quality time with my best friend named Keisuke Baji.

Tonight was August 3rd, meaning the night of the Musashi Festival. Several food stands and game stands were whelming the area of the Musashi Shrine. The place was lighted up by numerous lanterns and decorations that emphasized the festival and the traditions. Walking down the path while pushing through the crowd, Keisuke and I were in our normal casual clothes (our usual denim shirts and black jeans with black combat boots) as we didn't even bother to wear yukatas on this occasion for various reasons. Like Keisuke came up with like - "What if we've to fight some punks on the street tonight? We can't do that if we're wearing a yukata now, can we?" He had a fair point though. Being a part of a delinquent gang meant we were constantly surrounded by punks, constantly fighting random gangs and shit. How exhausting.

"What's Mikey doing tonight? Is he coming to the festival later on?" Keisuke asked as we walked together side by side, holding hands with fingers intertwined.

"Don't know." I shrugged. "Manjiro suddenly got an urgent phone call from some Toman members this evening, saying that they wanted to meet him somewhere near the Shibuya station."

"That's strange..." Keisuke muttered out, furrowing his eyebrows a bit as we walked down the narrow pathway. "What's so urgent that they have to call him up like that?"

"I know right? Doesn't make any sense at all." I responded back, slightly frowning as well.

To this day, I could still remember how I used to come to this festival every year with Shinichiro, Manjiro, Emma and Keisuke. Shinichiro used to take us to different food stands and buy us whatever we felt like eating. Playing games and buying souvenirs were things we all enjoyed doing but watching fireworks together at the end of the festival was a must. There was no way we could miss out on the chance of watching fireworks together - that was what we used to say back then. We even had our own special spot around the Musashi Shrine where the five of us would sit down on the grass and enjoy the firework show together. But everything suddenly changed after Shinichiro passed away. I really missed those days, really.

Then all of a sudden, a familiar voice spoke up from behind us.

"Nana? Baji?"

We immediately halted in our spots and turned around to look - it was Emma, Draken, Takemichi, and Hinata standing behind us with confused looks on their faces. The girls were wearing cute yukatas which suited them very well while the boys were in their normal casual clothes just like me and Keisuke.

“Nana! You came!” Emma smiled brightly and walked up to hug me, but the hug wasn’t very comfortable as Keisuke refused to let go of our intertwined hands. "I thought you wanted to stay at home tonight."

"Keisuke asked me to come, so I came here with him." I smiled back with a nonchalant shrug.

“Look what the cat dragged in...” Draken stated with a smirk, looking down at Keisuke’s unbuttoned shirt. “Nice tits, Baji.”

"One more word out of your mouth and I'm murdering you right here and now, Draken." Keisuke snarled out and I nudged him to the side to calm him down since Takemichi and Hinata were also there.

"Be nice now, Keisuke..." I stated in a soft tone before looking back at Takemichi and Hinata with a smile. "Takemichi, Hinata. Hey there!"

"Hello, Nana-chan!" Hinata greeted me happily as she and her boyfriend came closer to us.

"Nana-chan, who's that?" Takemichi asked in confusion, feeling intimidated by Keisuke.

"Oh, this is Keisuke Baji, Toman's 1st Division Captain. The biggest edgelord in the entirety of Shibuya..." I introduced them to Keisuke causing the said boy to twitch his eyebrows when I called him 'Shibuya's Edgelord'. "Manjiro and I've been friends with Keisuke ever since we were four years old. He's our oldest childhood best friend."

"Toman's 1st Division Captain?!" Takemichi gasped out in shock, his eyes widening open.

"You're that twerp from the other day." Keisuke scoffed, frowning down at the yellow-haired boy. "Takemichi Hanagaki, right?"

"Y-Yes! Nice to meet you, Baji-kun!" Takemichi squeaked out in fear, almost comical in a sense.

"Keisuke, stop scaring the poor guy." I scolded, causing Keisuke to pout at me before I looked back at Takemichi with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Takemichi. Keisuke looks scary, but he's a nice guy. He means no harm."

"Anyway, where's Mikey?" Draken asked, looking around.

"He's not here..." Keisuke replied before draping an arm around my shoulders. "Got some urgent call or shit."

"Huh? Really? I thought he would definitely be here given that Nana's here too. You know how clingy he is to her." Emma pointed out with a sly smirk but I ignored her remark while Keisuke scoffed in response.

"Whatever. We're leaving. Let's go, Nana." Keisuke stated with his arm still draped around my shoulder before he started to pull me away from those other four.

"Lead the way, my beloved arsonist." I joked with a cheeky smirk causing Keisuke's cheeks to turn hot red in color.

“I have more to my personality than burning cars, Nana.” He grumbled, dropping his arm off my shoulder and grabbing my hand again, intertwining our fingers.

“I know. I’m just teasing you.” I chuckled out at his bashfulness.

“Whatever.” Keisuke dismissed me, before leading me away.

“See ya later, guys!" I shouted out to my friends.

Saying farewell to my friends, I walked away with Keisuke hand in hand through the crowd of the festival. Back then, as little kids, Keisuke and I used to come to this festival together every year with the Sano siblings, and I could still remember how Keisuke and Manjiro used to hold my hands on each side and walk down the path of the festival. They were so stubborn that neither of them ever wanted to let go of my hands. Holding Keisuke's hand at this moment was reminding me of those days.

During the Musashi Shrine festival, vendors would set up all around the shrine grounds and sometimes the surrounding vicinity. They sold traditional snacks, from baked sweet potatoes and takoyaki to newer additions, such as chocolate-dipped bananas, candy apples, and character lollipops. Traditional festival games were interspersed among the snack vendors. An example of this was goldfish scooping. The game master would provide a delicate paper ‘net’ to scoop the goldfish into a bowl. Once the net would break, the player's turn would be over. The player would get to keep any goldfish they caught. An unusual variation in this game was played with mini turtles. Other carnival-style games like ring toss and target practice could be found here at this festival as well. Small trinkets, stuffed toys, and other souvenirs could be bought at Musashi Festival. Many were edible, while the toys, masks, and other goods often appealed to young children. They would also include stuffed toys of popular cartoon characters and plastic masks depicting animal faces.

"Okay, general knowledge time..." I spoke up and Keisuke looked over at me with curiosity. "Do you know what this Musashi Shrine is known for?"

"This Musashi Shrine...?" the ravenette boy trailed for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I've no clue."

"This shrine is locally known for being the site of what are claimed to be the graves of Hirata Muni, his wife Omasa, and most controversially, the grave of Miyamoto Musashi himself. Miyamoto Musashi also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke, or by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer, and rōnin, who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 61 duels. Musashi, as he was often simply known, is considered a Kensei, a sword-saint of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū, or Nito Ichi-ryū, style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) and Dokkōdō (The Path of Aloneness)." I informed him causing the boy to give me a look of amazement.

"And that's why I love having you as my tutor. You're just too smart." he grinned and I giggled out in response before looking up at the sky above us.

"This year... I don't want to miss the firework show, Keisuke." I stated as we sat closer to one another on a bench somewhere quiet (a more secluded part of the festival grounds) eating takoyaki and candy apples together.

"You really love the fireworks, huh?" Keisuke asked with a grin and I giggled out in response.

"I always wanted to draw rainbows in the dark, hold pencils of pure light, I guess that's why I love fireworks so. The fireworks are chaos and predictability - their explosive gifts finding their own time and space to own. As they do, I am the spectator, seeing their blazing trails arc above. There's something about them that warms me even in the cold as if their stray sparks passed into my blood. Arcing fireworks light the sky as rainbows of starlight." I stated in a soft tone causing Keisuke to give me a look of amusement.

"You can be so poetic sometimes, Nana. Seriously though..." Keisuke responded back, chuckling out as well.

As I sat there beside Keisuke looking at him, I suddenly started to realize how beautiful he actually was. The silvery-platinum moonlight fell on him and illuminated his every feature, making him look absolutely ethereal. Long black hair - smooth, silky, and wavy; sharp brown eyes; sharp teeth; sharp jawline and cheekbones; skin like milky yet manly rough; eyebrows sharp yet thick; tall stature with a perfect muscular body for a middle schooler - Keisuke Baji was a total hunk among the many.

After Shinichiro Sano, if I did find any other man physically attractive or found myself getting attracted to someone other than Shinichiro, that was Keisuke Baji. I always knew from the start that I was somewhat attracted to Keisuke one way or another, but my love for Shinichiro was so deep and passionate that it blinded me from realizing my feelings for Keisuke.

I always believed a man's beauty starts from his hearty, loving soul and radiates from there to create his final form; and men like Shinichiro and Keisuke were the perfect examples of that. Loyal, trustworthy, honest, respectful, kind, generous, compassionate, and a heart of gold - those were the words I could associate Shinichiro and Keisuke with. Sure Keisuke was violent and pretty much brainless while Shinichiro was weak and a crybaby, but I couldn't overlook the fact that they were the type of men who were perfect for almost every type of woman out there after analyzing their beauty and personality.

"Take a picture. It'll last long."

I immediately snapped out of my thoughts when Keisuke's words reached my ears. I then noticed the boy smirking at me mischievously, his left-top canine tooth poking out from in between his lips.

"Why would I take your picture?" I scoffed, looking away from him a small blush on my cheeks. "You're ugly."

"Ouch. Now you're hurting my feelings, Nana." Keisuke joked as he put a hand on the left side of his chest and I smacked him playfully on his arm.

"Shut up." I huffed with a pout, causing him to let out another light chuckle.

His voice was so deep and velvety, it sounded really tantalizing to hear.

"We'll be able to see the firework show from here. I think it's a perfect spot for the view." Keisuke pointed out and I looked around at the area.

"Yeah, you're right." I hummed in agreement.

"I'm the one who found the spot here. I'm a genius, ain't I? You should thank me for this." He smirked at me cockily.

"That's not happening." I scoffed and he threw a playful glare at me.

"You ungrateful woman. You're lucky that I love you." he scoffed, rolling his eyes and I stuck out my tongue at him teasingly.

"And that's your fatal flaw." I joked sassily as if the words I just said were the biggest secret this universe could offer him while staring up at the full moon night sky. "Your love for me might kill you someday."

Then suddenly silence fell between the two of us for a moment and this caused me to start to panic from the inside.

Why did he go quiet? Why isn't he responding? Did I screw up something? Did I say something I shouldn't have?

When I looked back at him again, I noticed he was already staring at me with a soft look in his gaze - so loving and soft it started to make me all warm and fuzzy inside. Taking the advantage of me losing myself in a daze, Keisuke scooted closer to me, arms touching, shoulders brushing, as he gently grabbed my hand that was on my lap and intertwined our fingers.

"To me, that's a beautiful flaw..." he whispered out, leaning closer to my face, his sharp eyes darkened and his thumb gently brushed the knuckles of my hand that was intertwining his. "I don't mind dying for you."

And my eyes immediately widened at his words and without knowing myself, I tightened my grip on our intertwined hands. Worry and panic slightly started to display in my eyes as I looked into his eyes in desperation.

"Don't you ever dare die on me, Keisuke..." I whispered back and his gaze softened even more. "I already lost Shinichiro. I don't wanna lose you too."

I could feel the heat and warmth radiating from Keisuke's body as he leaned closer and pressed his forehead against mine, his warm sweet breath caressing my face and lips. He smelled very nice, a mix of mint and sandalwood. Keisuke gently pushed a few strands of my raven locks behind my right ear and cupped my right cheek with his left hand, brushing my skin with his thumb, innocently yet teasingly while the look in his eyes was hot, fiery, and passionate. The way our skin touched, the way we invaded each other's personal spaces and boundaries, I didn't mind or feel uncomfortable with him being this close to me at this very moment, and neither did he. We never did and we never would.

"Sorry for scaring you... I won't say that again, Nana..." he whispered again and our noses touched, slightly. "I won't ever leave you alone. Ever. I promised you that day, remember? I'm here, always. By your side."

Keisuke Baji was an unpredictable man. For me, who was good at reading people just by observing their behavior, there were times I couldn't tell what was actually going through Keisuke's mind. This man was so wild and loved the thrill of adrenaline so much to the point that he would punch someone out on the street for no apparent reason, only because he felt like it, or would burn down a car simply because he was hungry. His erratic behavior always confused me to no end and I always had to figure him out, always had to learn something new about him which was frustrating and fun at the same time. Like that one time when I was tutoring him, he asked me for a kiss as a reward. I still couldn't tell if he was being serious or he was simply just joking. Like right now the way he was touching me was so loving and passionate yet so playful and teasing.

Keisuke and Manjiro had always been touchy and clingy towards me ever since we were little kids; Keisuke lesser than Manjiro but it was still the same. As kids, their touches were friendly and innocent but it all slowly started to change once we entered middle school. While Manjiro's touches were possessive and demanding yet somewhat child-like, Keisuke's ones felt more different, more like the way one would touch their lover, not their mere childhood friend. I wasn't sure if I was being paranoid or was overthinking it, but that was how I always felt under Keisuke's touches; unsatisfied and breathless. I wanted more. I craved more. And I knew if this kept going on like this between me and Keisuke, I definitely would go crazy one day. Keisuke Baji would be the death of me someday.

Hearing his soothing deep voice eased my heart and soul before I closed my eyes and nuzzled against his hand which was still holding my face ever so lovingly and gently.

"Hey, Keisuke, listen... I want to tell you something-"

I was suddenly out off when a cell phone started to ring; it was Keisuke's. We then quickly pulled away from each other before the ravenette boy answered his phone. I noticed his face went from calm to serious and then to furious. Furrowing his eyebrows deep, his eyes sharpened and his jaw tightened.

"Yeah, okay... I'll go and get the rest of the crew right now. Don't worry about it..." he stated and hung up the call.

"What happened?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows as well.

"Mitsuya called. It's Peh." He replied, looking back at me with all seriousness. "That bastard snitched."

~~~~~

11:37 PM, 24th October 2005

After that whole chaos that went down this evening, I called a certain someone to meet up with me in the neighborhood park which was located in the same area I lived in, the same place where Manjiro, Keisuke, Emma and I used to play together back when we all were just little kids. Life was so simple back then. No gang, no fighting, no shit – just me and my friends hanging out together, goofing around. If only I could bring those days back.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Nana…”

As I was sitting on one of the benches at the park, I turned my head around and looked over to my side to face the person who standing there just a few feet away from me - black shirt with black jeans and boots while the cool breeze of late October blew by making his long, wavy black hair gently sway in the air; the man was looking as beautiful and exquisite as always in my eyes.

“You went too far, Keisuke. Did you really need to punch Takemichi like that on the face though? That poor guy…” I stated with a pout, crossing my arms over my chest.

In response, Keisuke let out an airy chuckle in a sheepish manner before taking a seat beside me on the bench. I moved a bit closer to him as soon as he sat down until our arms were touching, our shoulders were brushing one another.

“Well, in order to convince them, I needed to keep up with the bad guy appearance, you know...” Keisuke replied and I scoffed in response.

Keisuke Baji, as always, sought violence, even if he didn't mean actual harm. I doubted that man was ever going to change in life.

“But still though… I think you went a bit far with it. Apologize to Takemichi the next time you’re seeing him.” I stated and this caused Keisuke to furrow his eyebrows in seriousness.

“I don’t think there’s gonna be a next time, Nana.” He responded back in a firm tone, causing me to give him a confused look.

“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to Toman after what I just did today…” he added.

“Do you seriously think that Manjiro and the others are gonna abandon you just like that for such a trivial thing?” I asked, almost deadpanning at him. “You’re their friend, Keisuke. You’re like a brother to them, like a family. Each and every one of them loves you to death. Do you realize how hurt they were when you said that you were leaving Toman for Valhalla? Even though they didn’t show it on their faces, I know how it broke their hearts when you left the gang and walked away from them. Especially Manjiro. That poor guy is getting more and more desperate with the passage of every second just to bring you back to the gang.”

“But Nana, I need to do this for the gang too.” Keisuke countered back.

“What are you talking about? I mean once we’re successful in kicking out Kisaki from the group, you can easily return back to Toman, Keisuke.”

“I’m not only doing this just to kick out Kisaki from Toman. I’m also doing this for some other reasons…”

“Like what?”

“Kazutora…”

Silence fell between the two of us when Keisuke said that name - Kazutora Hanemiya, the man who murdered the love of my life, Shinichiro Sano.

“Huh? Kazutora? What does this anything have to do with Kazutora anyway?” I asked, getting even more confused.

“I got a letter from Kazutora almost a month ago… He got out of juvie not so long ago...” Keisuke replied and my eyes went wide open in realization.

That’s right. Kazutora went to juvie for killing Shinichiro back in August 2003 and for the act of murder he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. And right now, it was October 2005, meaning he was already out of juvie by now.

“I met up with Kazutora after leaving Toman’s meeting this evening. He has joined Valhalla as well…” Keisuke added.

“Kazutora joined a gang as soon as he came out of juvie? Just what in the world… Just why?” I questioned again and this time, Keisuke took a moment to respond back.

“To kill Mikey…” he stated in a low yet firm tone and I let out a small gasp in shock.

“Kill Manjiro? What do you mean kill Manjiro? Is this some kind of a joke now?” I barked out in annoyance.

“After killing Shinichiro-kun, Kazutora had this mental breakdown and he started to put all the blames on Mikey. Because of Mikey, he went to steal that motorbike and ended up killing Shinichiro-kun. Because of Mikey, he went to juvie and wasted two years of his life there… This is how he’s trying to cope with the fact that he murdered a person at the age of 13, no less Shinichiro-kun, Mikey’s brother…”

“Without taking the blame onto himself for murdering Shin-chan which he actually did and that’s the fact, he’s blaming Manjiro for everything that happened? I mean, what the fuck is he on right now? Was he doing drugs or shit for the past two years while being locked up in juvie? Does he really think he'll be able to kill the Invincible Manjiro Sano?"

"I don't know, Nana. I don't know what Kazutora is capable of right now. So to protect Toman from Kisaki and Mikey from Kazutora, I need to join Valhalla. I need to stick around with Kazutora as long as possible because I promised him my support to the very end... 'I'd never kill Mikey's brother. I did this for Mikey's sake. This is all Mikey's fault. So I need to kill Mikey'... I remember that night, Kazutora kept on repeating those words over and over again after he realized that the person he killed was Shinichiro-kun. And without giving much thought to it, I ended up promising my support to him for eternity... And that's why I need to stay with Kazutora in order to fulfill my promise and to keep him away from Mikey."

So he's doing all this shit for Manjiro and Kazutora...? Why is he so damn selfless?

"But what about me though, Keisuke? What about your promise to me? You said you'll stay by my side till your last breath... You're breaking that promise now, Keisuke, as if I don't matter to you anymore..."

Keisuke's eyes widened a bit upon hearing my words before they softened a bit at the sight of me. Without saying another word, he immediately wrapped his arms around my petite form and brought me into a warm embrace, pressing me into his muscular chest.

"I'd never break our promise, Nana and you know it..." he whispered into my ears, his hot minty breath sending a shiver down my spine.

"But you are breaking your promise, Keisuke." I whimpered out in desperation, hugging him back with my dear life while resting my face in the crook of his neck, the scent of his cologne invading every five senses of mine. "Please don't leave me, Keisuke... Please don't... I need you..."

"I think you need Mikey more than me." he chucked out in a dejected tone.

"Who said I need Manjiro more than you?" I scoffed.

"I just know, okay? I know you'll choose Mikey over me in a heartbeat-"

I immediately cut him off by moving my face away from the crook of his neck and held his face in my hands, making him look into my eyes. I held his face so close to mine that our noses almost touched one another. Taking in his beauty under the silvery brilliance of the full moon in the sky, I began to wonder when Keisuke became as precious as Shinichiro to me. Before Keisuke came into my life, it was just and only me and Manjiro and no one else. Then it became the three of us, but when that whole Haruchiyo incident happened, I created a distance between myself and Manjiro out of fear and disappointment. Then it somewhat became just me and Keisuke and it had been like that ever since then.

During the time of my fallout with Manjiro that happened after he attacked Haruchiyo, Keisuke took Manjiro's place in my life and wiggled his way into my tiny heart, making himself at home there. Even I didn't know myself when Keisuke Baji became so dear to me. Back then I would've burned the whole world down just to protect Manjiro from any sort of malice. Manjiro was everything to me and I was everything to Manjiro. But it was years ago. Time passed, things changed along with feelings, people moved on.

The fact was - my first love was Shinichiro Sano and he would always and forever have a special place in my heart, it was something that was never going to change, ever. But also at the same time, it didn't take away the fact that I was falling in love again, that I was in love with someone else who wasn't Shinichiro Sano. Things were different now. Situations around me changed along with my feelings. I had already accepted the fact that Shinichiro was gone for good and he was never coming back, that I had to move on with my life without him, that my childhood best friend, Keisuke Baji had already replaced Shinichiro in my heart. To me, my love for Keisuke was a quiet emotion that in time became part of the oxygen I needed to breathe, and so though I might feel not sure that it was there, any form of removal and the emotions would begin to choke the life out of me.

Only if Keisuke knew how wrong he was.

"You're so wrong, Keisuke..." I spoke up in a firm yet soft tone, frowning down at him while Keisuke looked at me with surprise, almost shock in his eyes. "Do you remember that one line I once told you years back when we were kids...?"

Keisuke's eyes softened once again upon hearing my question, his arms tightened even more around my waist as he leaned closer to me.

"I remember that, Nana... You and I are the fireworks in this velvet dark, the blaze that dares to light up the night... You told me that once when I lost to Mikey in a fight back then. You said you'll always have my back and that you believe in me..." Keisuke muttered out with his lips curling up into a small delicate smile.

His response made me let out an airy sigh of relief and contentment before I gently pressed my forehead against his and this action made both of us close our eyes at once as we continued to bask in each other's warmth and embrace. To me, Keisuke was like my personal drug. One touch from him and the intoxication was instant as if everything was over; it was always that way with me ever since Shinichiro passed away and Keisuke became a constant figure in my life in Shinichiro's place.

Whenever we touched one another, I could always feel electricity in my skin, hormones shutting down my higher brain. From there on in it was all passion, intense, intoxicating. Keisuke became my release, my escape, my drug. Not that I was easy, I knew well enough to avoid letting a man lay his hands on me. Yet with my chemistry with Keisuke, too many of my switches were flicked for a reverse gear to be possible. In short, I was simply smitten with Keisuke Baji to the point where all I could do was go along for the ride and pray my instincts were right.

"Just because I knew Manjiro ever since we were babies, just because I knew Manjiro longer than I had known you, doesn't mean I'll choose him over you. Let's get one thing straight. If it ever came down to you and Manjiro, I would gladly let go of him, Keisuke. I will always choose you..."

~~~~~

October 30th, 2005, 8:00 PM

"So, Chifuyu and Takemichi came to talk to you this morning, huh?" I asked the long-haired ravenette boy who was sitting right beside me in front of Shinichiro's grave before he simply hummed in response.

"Chifuyu's smart." Keisuke pointed out in a serious tone. "I knew something like this was gonna happen."

"Chifuyu's not smart, he's just perceptive. If he's smart, then I'm Albert Einstein." I countered back with a small smirk and Keisuke rolled his eyes at me in a playful manner.

Ever since Keisuke left Toman and joined Valhalla, it got difficult for me to keep in contact with him, especially talking to him in person because wherever he went he was either accompanied by Kazutora or Hanma or maybe even both of them. The only way was left to talk to Keisuke face-to-face was at school but otherwise, it was either late-night phone calls or text messages. So it was a relief for me that I was able to speak to him in open like this without anyone noticing or spying on us. On top of that, we were at the cemetery in the nighttime, so the darkness of the night played a huge role in hiding us from the naked eyes of humans.

"But you're right though... Chifuyu, Takemichi, and I went to meet Osanai at his workplace to do some digging on Kisaki." I added.

"What did you find?" Keisuke asked, furrowing his eyebrows a bit and that's when I started to spill everything to him.

"Kisaki was the one who put Osanai in the power and using Osanai, he started to instigate everything from behind the curtains. Kisaki was the one who sent his men to beat up Pah's friends and that led Pah to the edge. He used Peh for the conflict on August 3rd and he manipulated Kiyomasa to kill Ken-chan. After that, he approached Manjiro and got to his good side by bashing Osanai, saying that it was all Osanai's fault. And then in the next part, you already know what happened. Kisaki offered a deal to Manjiro regarding Pah and in exchange, he wanted the position of the 3rd Division captain." I went on while Keisuke simply stared at me with wide eyes in shock.

"Kisaki did all of that...?" he trailed off and I nodded my head at him in response.

"Not just that... Kisaki's new partner in crime is Shuji Hanma... Chifuyu and I assume that Kisaki is the one who's leading Valhalla." I added, leaving Keisuke even more shocked. "I mean think about it, Keisuke... No one knows who the Commander of Valhalla is. Hanma is the Vice-Commander and he's working with Kisaki. After everything Kisaki has done up until now, I won't be surprised if he turns out to be the leader of Valhalla as well..."

"You're not wrong though..." Keisuke muttered out, furrowing his eyebrows a bit.

After that, for a moment a comfortable silence fell between the two of us before I spoke up again.

"You know, Manjiro assigned Takemichi to bring you back to Toman..." I mumbled out and this caused Keisuke to raise an eyebrow at me. "Did Takemichi say anything to you today?"

"Now that I think about it... that twerp did say something really weird..." he trailed off in a daze and I gave him a confused look. "He said - Please make it through tomorrow alive. Please don't die. Because Nana-chan and Mikey-kun will be really sad... something like that."

First Ken-chan and now Keisuke... that's weird...

Why does it feel like Takemichi always knows that something bad is going to happen to one of us...

Like at first, he was against the whole idea of going into a conflict with Moebius...

I remember Takemichi acting really strange when I asked him why we can't fight them...

Then he was hellbound to keep Ken-chan protected from Kiyomasa during the August 3rd fight...

And now he's saying this to Keisuke... as if he knows that something bad's gonna happen to Keisuke tomorrow...

If that's what it is, then I'll definitely keep an extra eye on Keisuke tomorrow... just in case nothing bad happens to him...

"So what's your plan tomorrow?" I asked and Keisuke looked over at me again.

"Kill Kisaki." he replied in a firm tone.

"You can't be serious now." I stated, raising an eyebrow.

"I am serious, Nana." he huffed and I rolled my eyes at him.

"You'll go to jail if you literally kill Kisaki, you moron. And this will make Ryoko-san cry again." I pointed out before noticing how Keisuke's eyes softened at the sight of me.

"And you'll not?" he asked and I gave him a confused look. "You'll not cry for me if I go to jail?"

"No. Why would I cry for you? My tears are too precious to get wasted like that." I responded back sassily, causing Keisuke to let out an amused chuckle before he leaned to my side and rested his head on my shoulder.

"And here I thought you'll shade your tears for me, even if it's just a single drop." he sighed in a dramatic way, slightly shaking his head and my eyes immediately softened at his words.

I can burn down the whole world for you, Keisuke...

You're just that precious to me...

Even I don't know myself what I'll do if something bad happens to you...

So tomorrow Keisuke... better not die on me, my beloved arsonist...

"This crush I have on you, without you doing anything other than being kind, it lifted me up. I gained my own self-confidence because you thought I was worth talking to, worth being a friend to. So, whatever happens, you were adorable and the time I spent loving you so obsessively, was worth it."

- Manjiro Sano

~~~~~

19th July 2005, 10:57 PM

"So what do you wanna do, Pah?" Manjiro asked Pah-chin. "We gonna fight?"

"They're two generations above our gang." Pah-chin hesitated, keeping his head slumped down. "Toman's not gonna walk away unscathed. I'd end up making trouble for all of you guys. But I'm so pissed off, Mikey..."

"That's not what I asked. Are we gonna fight, or what?" Manjiro questioned again.

"I wanna fight! I wanna murder all those sons of bitches!" Pah-chin immediately confessed on the spot, tears whelming the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah, I figured." Manjiro stated before looking back at everyone in Toman with a huge smirk on his face. "Anyone here thinks that Pah's bud getting his ass kicked is too much trouble to deal with? Anyone scared because Pah's bud got beat up?"

Nobody said anything back. Only smiles and smirks started to form on the faces of the admins and the members upon hearing Manjiro's words.

"See? There's no one! We're gonna crush Moebius!!" Manjiro exclaimed, hyping up the crowd as Toman cheered together, each raising up a fist, all determined to get the job done, for the sake of their fallen comrade. "August 3rd! The Musashi Festival is where it's all gonna go down!"

At that moment, seeing Manjiro like this reminded me of Shinichiro for some reason. Sure both the brothers were completely opposite of one another if we compared their personalities, but when it came to their leadership qualities or leading their gangs, they were both so pretty much alike. Two years back, Toman was formed to mainly protect Kazutora and to bring down the 9th Generation Black Dragons. And ever since they won that fight, Toman expanded. It prospered. It began to rule Shibuya in totality. If Manjiro was infamous before, now his name alone could send people running away and never looking back. That was the power that Manjiro Sano held - the Invincible Mikey.

After the meeting came to an end, Manjiro, Emma, and I went back home together and when I meant home, I meant the Sano residence; the place where I had been living for almost 8 years now. Later after taking a shower and eating some dinner, I headed back straight to my bedroom to complete my homework before I could go to bed. Toman was important to me, but so was my education. Unlike others, I wanted to do my best at school and on tests. There was no way in hell I would want to fail and demolish my future in my own hands. I had my priorities checked and so that's why, no matter what happened, at the end of the day, I would always do my homework and assignments on time and study properly on regular basis.

As I was studying in my room at my table, Manjiro was lying down on my bed on his back while hugging my pillow tight on his chest.

"Some guy named Tetta Kisaki approached me the other day, Nana-chin." Manjiro suddenly spoke up.

Raising an eyebrow, I looked over at him on my shoulder with curiosity.

"Oh? Who's that? Someone you're familiar with?" I asked.

"No, I don't know him. He just came out of the blue and told me that he wanted to join Toman..." he replied and this caused me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Okay... So, then what? We can't just take anyone in our gang, whoever comes to us like that." I pointed out before turning around and looking back at my books again. "We don't even know who and what that guy is. Is he a part of any gang or something?"

"Didn't mention any..." Manjiro responded back with a shrug.

"If he ever comes to you again, just don't accept his request. Toman has already become a huge gang anyway."

"But, you know... I want to make Toman even bigger and stronger... That's my dream, Nana-chin."

"The bigger and stronger it gets, the more conflicts will occur within the team, Manjiro. Ego, power, envy, and greed - things like these will circulate around even more within the gang and will create disputes among the gang members. Some might even turn their back on Toman and betray the team. Some might misuse the power for their own selfishness like what Kiyomasa did and by selfishness, I mean from selling things like drugs and weapons to committing any sorts of crimes like underground money lending, gambling, illegal casinos, prostitution, murder, fraud, and whatnot. You never know what might happen. Sure you have the 5th Division Captain and Vice-Captain to sniff out the traitors and wrongdoers, but even so... Just don't do anything hasty under any pressure or circumstances, that's all I have to say to you..."

Silence filled the room for a good amount of time before Manjiro let out a soft, airy chuckle in response.

"I'm so glad to have you in my life, Nana-chin... Thank you..." he stated with a smile, nuzzling his face into my pillow before taking a deep breath. "Please never leave my side, Nana-chin... Ever..."

"I promised you that a long time ago, remember?" I replied, smiling as well. "And I'll keep my words, Manjiro."

A promise that didn't break till this day. A promise that I made the day his mother passed away.

~~~~~

3rd August 2005

"I... can't face the others." Peh-yan hesitated.

"Peh-yan, we all get that you did what you did for Pah-chin's sake." Mitsuya chimed in with a serious tone and Peh-yan glanced over at him. "But Peh-yan, the one who was thinking the most about Pah-chin was Draken. From that day on, Draken went with Pah-chin's parents to go visit him every single day... He knew that only relatives could actually see him, but he'd bring a gift, then he'd wait outside the whole time. That's the guy you tried to kill."

Peh-yan had never known about this. Had he did, he wouldn't have gone through with the betrayal.

"Draken..." He muttered out, breathlessly.

"You'd better apologize..." Mitsuya advised. "To Draken-kun, to Pah-chin...to everyone."

"Yeah..." Peh-yan replied, tears rolling down his cheeks.

He knew that the journey of redemption was long, but it wasn't impossible. The fact that he was forgiven anyway after ratting out his whole crew to another gang was a blessing itself.

"Welcome back, Peh-yan." Mitsuya greeted him, ending the conversation so that he could head his way out.

Those words had made Peh-yan cry tears of joy then and there. Moments like these had reminded him why he loved Toman so much. Takemichi followed Mitsuya and walked away from the spot as well and it was now just me and Peh-yan standing in the waiting room.

"I was the one who told Ken-chan not to bring Pah out of jail." I finally spoke up and Peh-yan looked over at me with teary eyes. "And it's because of different reasons - Pah wanted to turn himself in to the police and you know that too. You were there when Pah told us that, meaning Pah knows what he did was wrong. Stabbing Osanai on the back when the man was already defeated and was unconscious... what Pah did was completely uncalled for. He shouldn't have done that and you know it. Also, I wanted Pah to learn from his mistakes so that he won't repeat the same actions again in the future. And if learning from mistakes means he has to stay in jail for a year then so be it. I never had bad intentions for Pah. I want him to grow as a better person. I hope you understand now what I'm trying to say, Peh..."

Sniffling and trying to hold back more tears, Peh slightly shook his head at me.

"I-I-I understand now, N-Nana-chan..." he cried out, looking down in shame and guilt and my gaze on him softened even more.

I let out another sigh and gave a pat on his shoulder before finally walking away from there and heading outside to find Manjiro. As I wandered around the hospital, searching for Manjiro, I entered a pathway that was in the middle of a courtyard, connected to the other side of the building. I immediately halted myself on the spot when I noticed Manjiro at the corner of the yard. It seemed like he was in his own daze. I watched him slide down the wall he was leaning on until he reached the ground. And that was when his tears finally started to fall from his eyes.

"Thank goodness... Ken-chin..." Manjiro softly cried out, cupping a hand over his eyes, his voice distorted from the tears that whelmed his eyes.

And seeing him cry like this brought back sad memories once again. The time when Mrs. Sano passed away, the time when Shinichiro passed away, every single time Manjiro walked away from everyone else and shed his tears alone, all by himself. He hated to cry in front of others. He hated to show his weakness to others. He wanted to appear strong as always. Like he did just now. Manjiro sobbed quietly, conveying the fear he had resisted back in the waiting room. In his point of view, if anyone saw him so vulnerable, they might question if he really was the commander of a notable biker gang.

"Don't make me worry like that, you asshole..." Manjiro mumbled to himself, slumping his head down, his hand secured over his forehead so that his hair wouldn't get caught in his eyes.

Of course, Manjiro was worried - from the very moment when he saw Draken wounded and bloodied back at the Musashi Shrine, up until a few minutes ago. He was anxious the entire time. He lost his mother when he was around 8 years. He lost Shinichiro just a few days before his 13th birthday. The last thing he wanted was to lose Draken as well, his best friend. I then took in a deep breath and approached the Sano boy. He didn’t seem to notice the sound of my footsteps and continued to look down. I kneeled down on the ground in front of him and patted his hair, wanting him to lift his head up.

"Nana-chin...?" Manjiro mumbled out, finally looking up at me with tears in his eyes.

"You know you can cry in front of us without any hesitation..." I stated in a gentle tone, wiping the tears that were staining his face. "Showcasing sadness and anxiousness, shedding tears of joy and sorrow, crying out loud in pain, anger or in utter happiness... All of these are natural human emotions, Manjiro. It's okay to cry out loud. It's okay to show sadness and disappointment if you get hurt or in pain. It's okay if you lean onto someone close to you for support whenever you're feeling down. It's okay to show your vulnerable side to the people you trust. It's okay to feel and be human every once in a while..."

Manjiro bit his bottom lip at my words and sniffled, silently listening to my every word without uttering anything himself. Without a second thought, I gently wrapped my arms around the Sano boy and pulled him into my warm embrace, resting his head on my shoulder. Manjiro also hugged me back, tightening his grip on me while I softly rubbed his back with my hand to calm him down, reassuring him that everything was going to be okay and that I was there for him.

"You did the same thing when Aunty and Shin-chan passed away, you know... Trying to appear strong in front of others, not shedding your tears to show your weakness and vulnerability... Manjiro, it's okay if you're not feeling strong every single time. It's okay to be weak, to feel weak. It's okay to cry. You don't have to burden yourself with every load that's thrown at you. You know I'm here for you... I promised my support to you for eternity the day Aunty passed away. You can lean on me whenever you feel like it, cry on my shoulder when you're sad, lonely, and depressed... I'm here for you, Manjiro, always and forever..."

Manjiro's arms tightened around my waist even more and brought me closer to his chest where I could hear his frantic heartbeat calming down a bit.

"Thank you, Nana-chin, for everything..."

~~~~~

4th November 2005

The moment my brownish-amber eyes opened and the white ceiling of the hospital room came into my view, the pain in my abdomen slowly began to pulse throughout my entire body. I could feel the pain throbbing, and all I could do was just stay down on the hospital bed, all still and motionless. From the daylight coming out of my window, I was able to deduce that the time of the day was either the morning or the afternoon. As much as I wanted to do it, I didn't even dare to attempt to get up from the bed just in sheer fright that I might make the pain even worse than it already was.

"Ah… I want to go home..." I let out a heavy sigh tiredly thinking about what went down on 31st October. "I hope Keisuke and the others are okay..."

"Nana?! Are you awake?” a familiar feminine voice suddenly spoke up in a concerned yet relieved tone and this caused me to turn my head around to see the certain individual standing in the doorway; it was Emma.

“Hey, Emma..." I softly greeted her with a smile as she quickly walked over to my side with a bag in her hand. "Just now… I woke up. What time is it?”

“November 4, 11:50 AM..." Emma responded back before staring up from her phone screen. "You've been asleep for a while now. I'm glad you're okay. When I got the call that you were in the hospital, I dropped everything and came here to see you..."

"Oh? Is that mean you were here with me the entire time then?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Of course I was! There's no way in hell I could leave you here all by yourself after knowing that you got stabbed!" Emma huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Grandpa was also worried about you, you know. Every day he dropped by to visit you but you were still unconscious back then..."

“Is that so, huh...? Then I need to apologize to Gramps for making him worried sick..." I muttered and Emma chuckled at me in response.

"Just get well fast and come back home as soon as possible. That would be enough for Grandpa as an apology..." she stated before setting the bag down on a chair beside my bed. "I left about half an hour ago to get some spare clothes for you..."

"Thank you, Emma." I expressed my gratitude with a smile.

"Oh, wait! Hold on! Let me call a doctor!" she squeaked out before dashing out of the room. "I’ll be back!"

And with that, Emma left the room and I was left alone once again. Right now, I was more awake this time so I was able to actually examine the room I was in. It was a small private room, just big enough to fit the bed and a sink. On the bedside table, were two vases of red roses and a few cards and letters. Curiosity got the best of me so I reached out to one of them and brought it to my face.

Dear Nana,

I don't know where to start to be honest. Well, let me start from the very beginning then... Nana, I'm sorry that you got hurt because of me. You may not know, but it was my ultimate mission to keep you safe and protected from every danger possible, especially from Kisaki, but I failed miserably at the very end. You took that deadly stab from Kazutora all to protect me and I don't know what to feel at this moment other than shame and guilt. I'm so so sorry, Nana... Please forgive me if it's possible. I know my words of apology won't be enough, so I'm making some plans for us alone. Get better soon so we can go back to school together. When you wake up, I promise I’ll treat you to some cakes, ice creams, and peyoung yakisoba! Everything's on me, so let's make it a date, okay? See you soon and I love you.

Yours ever,

Keisuke.

"Seriously, Keisuke..." I sighed and shook my head in disbelief. "You shouldn't feel this way. After all, we were in this together... It wasn't your fault that Kazutora tried to stab and I chose to save your life... You sure are an idiot, aren't you, Keisuke...?"

While staring down at his letter, I mentally made a note to make sure to reassure him that I was okay and that he must not feel guilty for anything. Whatever happened to me on the day of Bloody Halloween, it wasn't anyone's fault other than Kisaki and Kazutora's. So Keisuke shouldn't punish himself for me getting stabbed or anything else. But above all, the fact remained that Keisuke was still alive and breathing made me feel all happy and relieved once again. After that, I started to go through all the other cards and letters on the bedside table, and funny enough, all of them were from Keisuke himself.

Ever since we were kids, Keisuke always had a problem of understanding and learning the kanji words and because he was a slow learner, I could still remember him having difficulty keeping up with the rest of the students in the class. So, to help him learn the language, back in elementary school, I once suggested to him that we should write letters to each other in pure Japanese language every single day. In short, it was my easy way and method of helping Keisuke to learn the words and language. Keisuke who was really eager to learn and improve back then eventually agreed to take help from me and from then on we started to write letters to each other on daily basis to the point where it became a sacred habit and ritual just for the two of us - a special thing between me and Keisuke that we only shared with one another and no one else. The letters we wrote to each other weren't anything special to be honest, just simple words and info on our day-to-day life or shared stories if anything interesting or unusual happened on a specific day. Sure the letters and their words were simple and childish but to us, the connection and sentiment we shared through them were pure and genuine.

"Osaki-san, I’m glad to see that you're awake."

An unfamiliar masculine voice spoke up and my train of thoughts came to a stop before noticing the doctor walking into the room with Emma behind him.

“How are you feeling right now?” the doctor asked.

"Just a bit of pain here and there… but I think I’m okay...” I replied and he nodded his head at me in response.

The doctor then wrote a few things down and did what he needed to do. He then told me the estimated date I was going to be discharged was in a week which wasn't too bad in my opinion. And then a while later, he left the room and said that I should continue to rest up.

"Where's Manjiro and the others? How's Keisuke?" I asked Emma while she took a seat on a chair beside my bed and started to peel oranges and apples for me.

"Everyone's okay so you don't have to worry about them too much for now. Mikey and Baji came by to visit you almost every day when you were still unconscious... Also, Baji's the one who brought those red roses for you if you're curious to know who're they from..." Emma informed, pointing at those two vases on the bedside table and I slowly nodded my head in understanding.

"Are they coming by today as well?" I asked and Emma shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Don't know..." she replied nonchalantly.

But surprisingly enough, both Manjiro and Keisuke did drop by to visit me at the hospital that day.

"Nana-chin!!" Manjiro yelled out as he walked through the door, making Keisuke smack the blonde boy on the head, cursing at him for yelling in a hospital.

"Don't yell and run around like a four-year-old, you friggin moron!" Keisuke snapped with a scowling face.

"Ow! Baji, what the hell!" Manjiro pouted at him with a frown and their small banter brought a smile to my face.

"Keisuke, Manjiro... great to see you guys again." I greeted them with a bright grin. "Thanks for coming by again."

And my words immediately wiped the frown away from Manjiro's face which then was replaced by a big smile before he jumped and glommed onto my frame, making me fall back-first onto the hospital bed and surely enough, his actions didn't fail to annoy Keisuke to no extent once again.

"Oi, you little shit!! Stop annoying her!!" Keisuke barked out again as the ravenette boy tried to pry Manjiro off of me, but the boy was clinging onto me like a leech.

At some point, Keisuke decided to give up on detaching Manjiro from me and just let him be.

"How have you been, Nana?" Keisuke asked, looking all happy and relieved as he took a seat on the chair beside the bed, his voice kind and soft, quite characteristic whenever he spoke to me.

"I'm doing better than before, thanks for asking..." I replied with a smile while running a hand through Manjiro's blonde hair. "I assume you guys have been doing well too?"

"Yep, peachy!" Keisuke smiled back, leaning back into the chair he was seated on.

"And you, Manjiro? What about you-" I looked over at the said boy and was about to ask a question but then suddenly he cut me off by moving away from my body and looking into my eyes with his lifeless ones.

"Nana-chin..." Manjiro began with a smile, still holding onto my hands but stopped clinging to my frame. "You know when you got stabbed... I was so scared... so, so scared... I was so afraid that my fear turned into anger..."

Manjiro then broke eye contact with me and looked down at our interjoined hands while Keisuke and I stared at him with nothing but concern in our eyes.

"And before I knew it... I was on the verge of killing Kazutora..." Manjiro continued while playing around with my fingers. "But for some reason, I don't feel guilty, I don't feel guilty at all..."

"Manjiro..." I trailed off in concern yet confusion, not knowing what to say to this.

He didn't feel guilty for almost trying to Kazutora? I mean what the hell?

I know it was Kazutora's fault and everything... but still though...

"Nana-chin..." Manjiro called out as his voice cracked in the end before raising his head slightly to peer at me through his messy blonde locks, his grip on my hand tightened even more. "Don't ever leave me, please..."

At that moment, Manjiro looked like a lost child, helplessly finding for anyone to help him.

"I can't let you leave, not like Shinichiro-Nii..." he went on, his voice quivering and this caused me to wrap my arms around him, pulling him into a bear hug. "I-I think I'll kill everyone if you do... I'm gonna hurt everyone if you leave me, so don't do it, okay?"

Never in millions of years had I thought of expecting such a confession from Manjiro. For some reason, hearing his words, I wanted to say something, anything. The second I saw his shaking form, shivering like a leaf, all I could do was pull him even closer to my body and hold him tightly into my arms. Even though tears didn't form in his eyes, he was still on the verge of breaking down at any second now. Like the rest of us, Manjiro was a 15-year-old kid, still very young to tolerate such pain and agony. And the same went for everyone else, including Keisuke as well who was also there with us in the room. I closed my eyes and held onto Manjiro, letting him rest his head on my chest and listen to my heartbeat, a constant reminder that I still hadn't left him yet.

"I would never leave you, Manjiro... I'll always be here for you and everyone else, so don't worry about it, okay?" I stated in a soft tone, running my hands gently on his back while Keisuke silently watched us from his seat.

To read the whole fanfic, pls go and check it on -

Quotev - https://www.quotev.com/story/15038558/A-Condition-Called-Love-Tokyo-Revengers

Wattpad - https://www.wattpad.com/story/316764531-a-condition-called-love-tokyo-revengers

86 notes · View notes

anigst · 2 years

Note

What are some good anime/manga with lots of fucked up scienists and human experimentation? Besides Bleach because it's already my favorite haha

ohh nice taste anon!👍👍👍👍

Anime:

The Empire of Corpses

Doctor Moreau from Vanitas no Carte.

This man is obsessed with vampires. He kidnaps human children to try to turn them into vampires. and one of the test subjects was vanitas

(ngl tho, he's soo annoying. i cant be the only one who wants to bash his head against the wall everytime he speaks😐)

Proffessor Kanou from Tokyo Ghoul.

it's revealed in the manga that he was the one who turned Kaneki into a half-ghoul, and he's been expirmenting on alot others too. (btw i haven't watched tg:re so idk if he appears in the anime)

Fullmetal Alchemist

Ajin: Demi-Human.

at one point in the story Kei (the mc, who's a demi-human) is captured by humans to be expiermented on and tortured

this scene is more gorey in the manga btw

Elfen Lied

Lucy is special breed of human referred to as "diclonius", born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government.

Hange Zoë from Attack on Titan <3

Donten ni Warau touches the topic a little bit (but it is the main plot in the third movie, Donten ni Warau Gaiden - Ouka Tenbou no Kakehashi)

I haven't watched them, but I think Made in Abyss and Zankyou no Terror fit the trope too?

Manga:

The Unfeeling Me

Boku no Nakama wa Isekai Saikyou Undead

Alpha

Blue Phobia

Sleeping Dead

ongoing manga, only three chapters are translated to eng.

The mad scientist in this one sometimes reminds me of Seo Moon Jo from Strangers from Hell😂

If anyone would like to add more recs, it'd be very much appreciated<3

#ask #replies #bleach was one of the first to come to mind the moment i saw your ask😂#we dont have just one mad scientist but FOUR mad scientists #just on varying degrees of madness #recs #anime recs #manga recs #anime whump #manga whump #human experiment #human experimentation #mad scientists #hope the links are working #or even visible haha #bc it looks fine on the website but on the app they don't exist :)

73 notes · View notes

darkmermaidao3 · 4 months

Text

I haven’t posted about it in a while but my Tokyo Revengers fic on AO3 has had a few updates since. Chapters 24, 25, and 26 are available for reading!

Link below to The Haitani Princess 👑

Chapter 24 Excerpt!

“We’re leaving Aniki, Nii-san.”

Ran pulled his eyes away from the notepad, his violet orbs finding his sister’s identical pair for a brief moment before flicking to the teenager standing right next to her, his gaze settling on their interlocked hands, a pleasant smile forming on his face at the sight; how strange it was to see this kind of behavior out of his sister that forever showed disinterest in things of this nature.

“Alright little dove, be home around seven if you want dinner.” He commented, turning his attention back to the in-progress grocery list. “Making your favorite.”

“Okay Aniki.” Reina agreed, her voice cheerful.

“If anything happens to her Hanemiya, I’ll break your damn leg.” Rindou threatened, sounding the furthest thing from content; the elder could’ve chuckled at the words, his brother was certainly not pleased over this situation and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that they’d be discussing it in private no sooner did the pair walk out the door.

“I can take care of my damn self Nii-san.” The girl scowled, sounding just as irritated; the smile stretched further across his face over her attitude, she was like a perfect mix of the pair of them at times, her short temper was Rindou made over and the usual dull look in her eyes was all him.

Chapter 25 Excerpt!

“Draken!”

She could see it just as clearly as it’d been twelve years prior and trying to shove the memory into the recesses of her mind never worked, she’d tried every time the anniversary closed in, but it was a wasted effort. She may have been desensitized nowadays to blood, dismemberment, having borne witness to the raw torture of countless people, but back then was different. It’d been the very first time that she’d come face to face with death and to make matters worse, it’d been one of her dearest friends, one of Toman’s founders…Ryuguji Ken had been one of the strongest and even he hadn’t been able to fight off death.

“Mikey! He’s bleeding! Mikey!”

A wailing shriek left her throat, her fingers knotted in her curls as she proceeded to bash her head off the wall in hopes that it would kill her, the back of her skull colliding against the wall so hard that the sound echoed through the bedroom but it didn’t do a damn thing, she hadn’t even managed to see stars so it truly looked like she was going to have to eat a bullet.

“Reina!”

“Draken! Say something!”

It was every damn year, August 2nd going into August 3rd was when the memory replayed as a dream and keeping it at bay never worked.

Chapter 26 Excerpt!

“So hungry.” Reina whined dramatically, tugging at his shirt childishly; the grin stretched further across his face, he loved it when she’d get clingy with him and she’d been glued to his side all day, it didn’t get any better than this. “Kazu, I’m still hungry.”

“We’ll get more food then, yeah?” He responded easily, nodding once in affirmation; she beamed brightly at the words, snuggling up against his side.

“Still a damn pushover, always giving into her shit.” Baji commented, his tone annoyed.

“Rei didn’t have breakfast this morning.” he reasoned with a shrug, slipping his arm around her shoulders to hold her closer. “You know skipping meals makes her tummy off.”

“Don’t know how you don’t weigh seven hundred pounds.” He mused, he was practically asking for a fight with those words; a haughty look formed on her face, her lips pursing in pure annoyance. “All you do is eat and nap.”

“Murdering people with my kicks takes energy.” Reina announced, her voice monotone; he arched an eyebrow, he’d been noticing her indifferent tone of voice in the past two days, and it was certainly different than how exuberant she’d always sounded when they were kids. “Not my fault you don’t understand how food is converted into energy.”

“You little shit.” The first division captain snarled, sounding heated; the dull look in her eyes didn’t falter as she stared across the table at him, her expression filled with boredom. “I’ll murder you.”

“I’d like to see you try.” She retorted, her own voice smug; Kazutora rolled his eyes, his arm tightening around her shoulders. “I’ll murder you first.”

3 notes · View notes

whorrorgrl · 1 year

Text

What I Watched In January

First off... since my last post, I've gained a lot of new followers. Thank you all for even following my account, reading my reviews, and interacting with them. It's nice to know I'm living out my journalistic dreams and I appreciate it. Thank you.

...

Ever since making this blog, I’ve been more conscious in watching shows and movies, especially when I’m a horror fanatic and haven’t even watched majority of the classics. So I made it a resolution. Throughout the year of 2023, I'll be watching majority of the horror classics that I've yet to see. I'll begin by making a "wrap up" As much as I love analyzing movies on here, not all of them can have their own individual post, and sometimes there’s not much to analyze from it. So, I’ll be making a wrap up every month of all I’ve watched; from shows, movies, books, etc. They'll mostly all be horror. Some might not be but I just wanted to post my thoughts on them.

1. The Barbarian (2022)

A young woman discovers that a rental home she booked is already occupied by a stranger. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the night but soon discovers there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.

Hm.

People raved about this one. I couldn’t escape the Tiktoks, the tweets, or Youtubers that posted their reviews, outright spoilers, or suggestive memes that gave me an idea of what the movie's "twist" would be. I tried my best not to run into them, I really did. But I knew there would be a seven foot tall inbred character residing in the basement. What was a surprise was the strategic casting of Bill Skarsgard. I assumed the woman was his deformed mother and that he lured people in for whatever sinister reason, but I was surprised when the very creature bashed his head in. Would my experience have been slightly better had I not known? Maybe. Do I think it makes a difference? Not really.

I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Truthfully, I wouldn’t rewatch it. I assumed it would be a gem that would bring a fresh take on horror. The way people went on about it, I expected more. We're used to the run of the mill movies that are kind of the same and all merge together, so I assumed this one would bring something new. Like a Jordan Peele-esque surprise. I just...I don't know.

The random story about Frank in the 80′s felt pointless. Granted, it explained why the creature exists but not much else. Why the creature was obsessed with motherhood is also a mystery. What the fuck was in that bottle? That was the true horror. The tunnels were also unnecessary. They run for miles beneath the shantytown and I don't think its existence was used to its greatest extent. The random sexual assault case with Justin Long's character AJ was just..there. I'm not quite sure of the connection and if it serves more than a tool to throw into the plot since everyone else is doing it in their movies. If there is a connection to them all, the pay off sucked. The homeless man who is just there to create some exposition for the protagonist...yeah. I just don’t really know what to make of it. I wanted to like it, I really did, but 5/10.

2. Death Note

High school student Light Yagami's life changes when he discovers a supernatural notebook that gives him the opportunity to play god.

I've tried for years to finish this anime and read all the mangas. It's a very information-dense manga and the anime is not that much different. I'm proud I finally was able to fully watch it and have no regrets. As a budding socialist, I find the parallels of disorderly power and what it does to those who possess it so overt in this show. When you have seemingly unlimited control over some sector of society, it inevitably becomes corrupt when gone unregulated. It doesn't matter how pure and righteous it began in the beginning, if gone unchecked, it can completely consume the holder's morals and have them act in ways that they probably wouldn't have had they not come into this power. It's human nature to indulge, and it's also human nature for that unmanageable indulgence to run rampant if gone unchecked.

You watch, almost like an unwilling participant, as Light expertly maneuvers through the accusations of being Kira by L, a lone detective with unorthodox deductive practices. It's funny because L does live up to the reputation the show establishes as one of the best detectives when he immediately suspects Light of being Kira. But the two are one in the same and keep each other on their toes so much that L isn't 100% sure if Light is Kira or not. What shocked me and I wasn't expecting was Light actually dying by the hands of Ren, a Shinogami of Misa, who then in turn dies for using her notebook to save a human. I honestly feel that if L hadn't died, Light would've never been revealed to be Kira. They were just too alike, besting each other at every turn. It was like a race that would be endless. N, the predecessor of L, was able to catch Light by the short and curlys and finally take him down along with a team of his own people.

Is Light an inherently bad person? I believe he's simply human (derogatory) with enough power than he knew what to do with. This is why democracy, a team of peers (like, say, a court) is required in carrying out such kinds of power. This is why Tyler Perry's one man team in his writer's room is contributing to the deterioration of the black community.

Majority of us would probably do the very same thing he did if given the power to control who dies and who lives - we just wouldn't admit it. We see it when we externalize that power into dieties and gods who seem to be the only ones justifiable in the mortal judgment of man. We see it in systems supportive of death row. We see it in every day capitalist societies that find ways to justify the bottom dwellers of their hierarchies. If handed a Shinogami notebook, we would probably see ourselves as a modern messenger that, too, have similar powers to part seas and walk on water and bring an entire world to its knees in the name of altruism. Light believes he is some earthbound god that the god (capitalized) bestowed the right to pass judgement on his fellow man. We see as he then murders innocent people who get in his way, refusing to compare himself to Misa's reckless murders of similar innocents. He feels he is righteous in turning his district, and soon all of Japan, into this dictatorship where not only could you be murdered for something as heinous as assault, but, when the boredom of order arose, could be dead for simply cheating on a test.

Light, just like his cop father, has an undying sense of justice. He's previously helped the police force on cases and have proven to have amazing deductive skills. We see this uncorrupted sense of justice when he temporarily relinquishes power of the death note, therefore losing his memory, and witness his interactions with the Task Force in catching Kira. With his memory, he was completely fine with using Misa's obsession with him to his benefit. Without his memory, the thought of it seemed immoral. With his memory, he justified the senseless killing of those he feels vindicated to judge. Without it, he believes no man is capable of such a power. To believe is to not know, whereas to know is to be sure. You are completely different in your beliefs, which are usually guesses, faith; knowledge could change that. No matter how smart of a boy he thinks he is, he's between the ages of 17-23 during the show's runtime. Very young. Very idiotic.

I knew he died in the end because of Death Parade's (2015) Yagami cameo, but the ending, despite it all, was very sad. Whether this evil laid dormant in him and would've been triggered by any portion of power, meeting Ryuk was the worst thing to happen to someone like Light. Not everyone can be a Guevara and Castro. 10/10.

3. The Invitation (2022)

After the death of her mother and having no other known relatives, Evie takes a DNA test and discovers a long-lost cousin she never knew she had. She is later invited to her newfound family's lavish wedding in the English country-side where she gets more than she bargained for.

I have an entire post dedicated to this movie, so I'm not gonna go too hard into how I feel on this movie because I don't want to be redundant. Overall, this was what I expected, even in the end. The 'lore of vampires did turn me off in this universe, but it was overall beautiful and could've done well with a lot more cinematic shots focused on the manor and its land. Just England in general. But, if you care, my review on the movie will go into deeper analysis and will be posted whenever. No hard dates. Link will be HERE when posted.

4. Vinland Saga (2019)

After the death of his father Thors, Thorfinn pursues a journey with his father's killer, skilled pirate Askeladd, in order to one day take revenge and end his life in a honorable dual.

I did not know this one was ongoing. I've had it in my list for years, however began it just as season two released with two episodes. As far as season one and season two all the way to episode 2 goes, I adored this show.

I knew it would be good. It's highly talked about but I never 100% knew what it was about, which I found helpful because it was an entire trip from start to finish.

I always criticize American shows like The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars for having characters overstay their purpose at the expense of the plot. I watched, almost like I was sat front bench at a funeral, as PLL brought back a villain that would've gone down in history as one of the best, only to turn her into a mopey, sappy shell. Despite the fact that Klaus is an exceptional example of a character overstaying and actually benefitting the storyline (even earning his own spinoff), it completely changed the trajectory of the show's following series had the original plot been honored and the team had vanquished the seemingly unbeatable icon. Word on the street is, he was supposed to die right before the ritual when he was at his weakest. Because of this not coming to pass, prior plans were abandoned and TVD suffered in quality. They followed the trend of bigger being badder, abandoned established rules of their universe, and made mockery of the developments of their characters. The last two seasons of TVD were painful to get through. Actually, I wouldn't know. I stopped halfway through the second to last season and gave up.

Vinland Saga, much like majority of Japanese animes I've watched, are not afraid of hurting your feelings. If you love a character, say goodbye to them. It's a bloodbath, an amazing (from my own knowledge) depiction of the time period of vikings, the politics between the Danes, the English, the Welch, etc. I don't know much about white people drama that far back, nor have I ever had much interest, so this is a sneaky way of me blabbing about the religious politics in the 1000 AD period. I'll just leave out the part where my source is Makoto Yukimura.

Thorfinn is so blinded by the pursuit of rectifying his father's unfair death that it's created this narrow vision, blocking out all else that matters and simply focusing on Askeladd. Askeladd is one of the best fighters in the show, which is impossible for a baby like Thorfinn to challenge and actually win. So he stayed with the pirates that watched his father die, shadow behind a man that gave the orders to that death. He no longer thinks of his mother nor his sister, nor his people in Iceland. It doesn't matter. What matters is vengeance.

This, of course, is not what his father would've wanted if he were alive to advise it. Thorfinn even has a dream where his father, in the meadows of the land of Vinland, tells him this. But Thorfinn wants to be the one that ends Askeladd's life, so he does Askeladd's biddings and follows him wherever he and his group of bandits go for the better part of a decade. They've murdered countless people and destroyed many lands. We watch Thorfinn, once a sweet little boy, turn into a vicious murderer.

When Askeladd died by Canute of all people and Thorfinn holds him in his arms, willing the old man to stay alive so Thorfinn can be the one to finish him off, we watch as another father figure in his life dies in front of him. No matter how much resentment he had for Askeladd, somewhere in him he grew to care for the very man that killed his father.

I see a similarity between Askeladd and Thorfinn that I hope is not me reaching and actually purposeful. Askeladd is the bastard son of Olaf, a Norse warrior, his mother one of Olaf's many slaves. Upon the sick murder of his mother by Olaf, he is taken in and raised with his other half siblings. When Thors is murdered by Askeladd's signal, Thorfinn, for all intensive purposes, is an orphan...just like Askeladd was the moment his mother was slain before his eyes. Both boys watched their parents die and later worked closely with the murderer, father figures, until the window of opportunity for revenge opened. Where the boys differ is that Askeladd played the long game. He feigned love, he feigned compassion, he feigned dedication and loyalty to his father and his half siblings. He never got swept away in the emotions of being in close proximity with his royal family and was able to not only carry out the final blow in murdering his father but framed one of his half-brothers. He, from what we see, holds no remorse or regret for betraying his new family because they are the embodiment of his mother's death. He didn't challenge him to a dual or care for honor. He slayed Olaf in his sleep. Thorfinn values equality in this context. However, if given the opportunity, even on fair grounds, would Thorfinn have done the same? I believe he might've hesitated giving the final blow if he had somehow had the upper hand to Askeladd. If not, he would've killed Askeladd but it would've been Thors all over again. Askeladd is a vicious murderer, and no matter how savage Thorfinn is portrayed he is not that soulless. I don't believe he has what it take to slay his "father."

In season two, the two episodes I watched, Thorfinn is now a slave to a landowner, Leif feverishly looking for him, and has seemed to lose all the fight he had. He had no motivation, no purpose, no drive. He's going through the motions. Could this be from the loss of Askeladd, a father, or Askeladd, a missed vengeance? I don't know. But it's obvious it has to do with either or. I'm fascinated to know what will come of King (?) Canute and how he ties into the story, or our new protagonist, Einar.

9/10

5. Circle (2015)

Fifty strangers facing execution have to pick one person among them to live.

This is a rewatch.

If there is a post-apocalytic society that ever wanted to get an idea on how society now was ran, this is one of the shows I would play. The Platform (2019), Hunger Games (2012), Parasite (2019), The Hunt (2020) and a few other would be queued. It's simply just another work on how society is and who we view as important.

We have black, white, latino, Asian participants, etc. We also have people with U.S. citizenship, people without, people serving country, whether military or police force. We have old, young, and all in between. Lesbian, straight, pregnant, man, woman, the likes. They've all been abducted, chipped, and placed in a circle on a platform that will kill them if they move off of it. They have two minutes to decide who dies by popular vote. The entire movie is just seeing the changing dynamic as everyone argues on who deserves to get killed. Some volunteer, some are voted out, and others are murdered off if the vote takes too long or by others who want to better understand the function of the game. We see discrimination on pregnant women, a lesbian woman, an amputee, people within certain age ranges, and even someone potentially being a porn star. Opinions also influence the dynamic. A cop is murdered off for being racist towards another black participant, a Latino man is murdered off for beating on his girlfriend, a Hispanic man is almost murdered off for not speaking English, another is killed because he wants another participant in remission for cancer to die because it "might come back." We even see an atheist get killed off for offending a room full of majorly Christians. It's a lot, but you get the idea.

The overseeing aliens are doing an experiment to better understand humans and what they value the most - this is the assumption by Eric, a seemingly altruistic man. At the end of the show, when Eric, a character we least expected to pull a fast one on us, ends up murdering both a pregnant woman and a little girl (then murdering the fetus). He is deemed the final winner of the circle and wakes up outside of the ship. When he joins a group of onlookers (those who "won" their circle), it is mostly children and pregnant women.

The conversations reflect today's current climate perfectly. Police brutality and the profiling of minorities and black people we can see when The Cop argues about "all black people being the same." We even get a hint of this before with the kind of language he uses when arguing with the heavily tattooed Latino man, commenting that his cousin being murdered by cops is one less criminal on the street. The first people expected to go were elders because "they're on their way out." It shows us how agism makes people believe that the life of the elders don't matter compared to anyone else's. "Rich Guy" thinks it's a good idea to kill off "The Hispanic Man" because he doesn't speak English, therefore can't contribute to the conversation, yet had no qualms for "Silent Man" that outlived him without even voting or opening his mouth. There are probably ten more handfuls of things that I'm missing, but those were the most common ones.

I want to be a teacher and play this movie for my class. I'd have them do some essay on it to analyze the many moving pieces in the movie. It's great and I'm glad I took the time to rewatch it again.

10/10

6. Devil (2010)

Five strangers in an elevator ride encounter something unordinary when their elevator gets stuck. As strange things begin to happen, the strangers are now faced with the revelation of their secrets and transgression being the reason they're fated to die. One of them is the devil, and he's come to collect.

So this movie is Catholic as (ha!) Hell. I was confused in the end as to why confessing their deepest sins would have the Devil back off, but I'm not familiar with Catholicism so I better understood it after realizing the entire purpose of a confessional. It's very wild. To think you could murder a mother and son and still enter the gates of heaven so long as the confession hits air. Does it need to oxidize in order to meet god?

This is another rewatch, but I never knew M. Night Shaymalan was behind this. It makes sense given the twist, his signature plot device. I like plots where things are pre-destined and unavoidable. Everyone in that elevator was meant to be there; everyone watching is meant to witness it. Ramirez is meant to be the exposition for Det. Bowden, and in turn us, to understand why everything is happening. Bowden, who lost his wife and son to a drunk driver who only left an "I'm Sorry" note at the scene of the crime, is connected to the Mechanic, who holds the memory of being the drunk driver to murder a mother and son. The rest of the characters in the elevator are guilty of other Abrahamic sins they refuse to admit to, or, really, don't get a chance to before they die since they didn't stay alive enough to know the rules of the stake at hand. It's funny that a building full of lawyers is the place that the devil decides will be the site of retribution.

Loved it as much as I did the first time. 8/10.

7. Smile (2022)

After witnesses a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.

This one's the same as Barbarian. They hyped it up so much to the point that I got excited to watch it...only to not like it so much.

It reminds me of Truth or Dare (2018) and It Follows (2014). It has the visuals of ToD with the reminiscent plot line of IF. All I can really say is the plot is very familiar to 2000's movies like Drag me to Hell (2009) and The Ring (2002). I did a review on Countdown (2019) that was also similar. Something horrific happens to the main character, it follows her with a limited time to live, she investigates (there's always a survivor or some witch with all the answers) ,then tries to defeat it...unsuccessfully. Whatever trick or remedy always fails.

I saw an analysis on the movie briefly that painted it out to be as deep as I honestly don't think it is. The movie clearly speaks on mental health and how this entity feeds on trauma and (if void of it) creates it, in order to gain access to you. I just don't think it touches on anything new or mainstreams a new layer on understanding trauma. It just gives me the energy of, "I've watched this movie before." I feel like this and the movies I described are so interchangeable, It Follows and The Ring actually being the superior. I just get tired of the story layout. I expect it from 2000's movies and most of the time the reason we like them is because they were the first introduction to this type of plot, but in 2023? Really? 4/10. I think I'm being harsh but that car scene with her sister alone is questionable.

8. The Midnight Meat Train (2008)

When struggling photographer Leon Kaufman, played by Bradley Cooper, meets the owner of a prominent art gallery, he sees a chance for the success that has, so far, eluded him. Determined to show the dark side of humanity for his debut showing, Leon crosses paths with Mahogany a serial killer who preys on late-night subway commuters. His fascination with Mahogany pulls him, and his lover, deep into an evil abyss.

Another rewatch!

I really should be watching new works, but I'm in an area that's not my home and it seems comforting watching movies and shows that I did back home, so...

Anyway, I love this movie. I forgot how good it is. I came across a critic on sex scenes in movies and that they're unnecessary towards the plot, but it's not entirely true. The Midnight Meat Train is always an example that comes to mind. Could they have interpreted their message any other way? Yeah. But that's all plot devices. Random, but I just wanted to push that out there.

Leon wants to find the ugly of society for his photographic work,. In a city like New York, that's cake. What always psyched me out was that he could take pictures of every day people in the city and just...sell them in a museum. No release form, no anything. There's always something so pervasive about photographers like this. I don't think the way this ending of the movie turned out is an even punishment for it. But I feel less concerned. That's what you get for being nosy.

This movie is supernatural, which gets a plus for me. Mahogany has been around for a while (Bella: "How long have you been 17?"). He takes the last train every day, murdering everyone left on it when the train takes an unscheduled turn down the bowels of the city to feed the creatures that reside below it. This is carried out by the conductor and detective Hadley at the police station who deter any reports. Why they keep the bus schedules from so long ago is a mystery to me. It seems like they're begging to be caught.

What scene I loved was when we, already witnessesing Mahogany's strength, see him almost lose to a man who managed to land a few punches. He's getting weaker, dying. Just before, Leon had proposed to his wife and in their celebration of the moment, they have sex. Leon is rough and more forceful. From the looks on Susan's face, this isn't their usual way. We're literally seeing Leon gain strength, strength he'll need to become Mahogany's predecessor. He doesn't know of his influence nor is he aware, but Susan never brings it up.

The 'lore is in this movie is amazing. Through exposition from the conductor after Leon wins his fight with Mahogany, killing him, we learn that the creatures that Mahogany kills thousands of people for for hundreds of years have lived beneath the city way before the subway was created. Mahogany was the butcher, and his job was to feed them every night to keep them from coming up and attacking the subway riders. The creation of the subway meant digging into the layers of the earth, opening up access from the creature's world to the human's. Having killed Mahogany, Leon will take his place. The conductor makes it seem as if Leon murdering Mahogany gave him the job, but he was definitely picked the second Mahogany showed weakness (maybe lack of motivation). Leon's tongue is ripped out by the conductor who then eats it. We see another clip of Leon on a train, the new butcher.

Such a good 'lore.

Apparently this movie wasn't marketed properly and was kind of thrown out there. It's always the amazing movies that get the worst marketing ever. If you've read my previous reviews, you know how I feel about Suckerpunch (2011) and Jennifer's Body (2009). 9/10

_______________________________________________________

Furthermore.....

There were all my reviews for the month of January. I'll be sure to upload my review on The Invitation ASAP to connect this this one. But if you have any suggestions for February that are horror, thriller, suspense, or all in one, do let me know and I'll check them out!

#smile #the invitation #circle #barbarian #death note #vinland saga #devil #the midnight meat train #horror movies #whorrorgrlreviews #reviews #movie #January #2023

2 notes · View notes

bnnywngs · 4 hours

Text

Oikawa remembers everything from beginning to end, as if it was a movie with the highest definition inside his own brain and he was the lonely viewer.

When they first met, they were both 15.

The first time Oikawa met Koushi, he didn't know who he was - it was his anonymous post on a very popular, at that time, online forum for volleyball players. Koushi used the forum to rant and vent, letting out his thoughts and feelings for anyone interested enough to read, like a diary or something.

Oikawa couldn't judge, he did the same.

It was one particularly emotional and depressive post that their first interaction happened. Koushi had lightly sprained his ankle after too much training and was out of volleyball practice for at least two weeks. Oikawa was a veteran in injuring himself for practicing too much, just ask Iwa-chan.

After that, they started to talk more, at first through comments in each other's posts, then through dms, and lastly, through their personal social media accounts. Oikawa struggled with his feelings for a while until he found the guts to ask for Koushi's phone number.

Their talks were long and deep, exchanging personal struggles and painful feelings they rather not show to anyone. Little by little, day by day, they got closer and Oikawa was going mad, his heart overflowing with affection.

"Can we meet?" was the message he sent after losing to Ushiwaka yet again - first time in high school.

"Sure!" Koushi's answer was quick, without showing doubts or apprehension.

The place they decided to meet for the first time was a popular boba place near the station, without saying where they lived or where they went for school.

Oikawa fell even more in love with Koushi when he saw the other boy up close. Those beautiful round eyes with a beauty mark, that silky hair and innocent expression, they made his heart skip one or two beats before going overdrive.

"Wow, you're so pretty!" Koushi said and his voice was as beautiful as his everything.

Blushing faintly, Oikawa scratched his nape "You're also reaaally pretty."

"Hehe." Koushi chuckled and Oikawa could swear he saw the boy sparkle.

And suddenly, their meetup ended up being a date of sorts, with both flirting in a subtle way with each other.

Though, they never touched the subject of volleyball and school.

By the fourth pseudo date, Oikawa found the courage to ask about it.

"Isn't it better to let fate decide if it wants us to know where we study?" Koushi said with a beam that pierced right through Oikawa's heart.

"But why~?" he whined "What if I want to pick you up during Valentine's Day with a heart shaped chocolate?"

Koushi, for the first time, blushed, his pale cheeks gaining a pinkish hue that made him look even more pretty. Unfairly pretty. Oikawa was so in love he wanted to scream or bash his head against the concrete floor.

"Oh." Koushi said, embarrassed "I mean... I want that. Definitely. But." he chewed on his lower lip, looking for words "Wouldn't it be funny if we went to interhigh and we look at the other side, to the school we're playing against, and saw each other?"

"...Maybe?" Oikawa wasn't convinced "But why wait?"

"Tooru, please~" Koushi huffed, exasperated "Imagine the surprise! The dread! The panic! The gay panic! It looks straight out off a shoujo manga, right?! Right?!"

Oikawa laughed "You're so weird, what the hell." then sighed "Fine. You win. Let's do your way."

"Not my way, fate's way!" Koushi looked so proud of himself.

Not resisting anymore, Oikawa bowed down and kissed those pretty lips.

They were both 15 when they met online, and 16 when they started dating.

A year later, they found themselves across a net.

0 notes

axvwriter · 4 months

Text

Short Spelldrive disccussion

plus Twst Bobo book 2 draft/idea

Since the Spelldrive cards are coming out for the Japanese server, I’ve heard chatter about the discs. I did think they were bulkier than frisbees considering one knocks out the MC. I saw one blog say the discs are made of gold? People been saying it’s lucky all it did was knock out MC.

Though from what I recall, Grim accidentally threw the disc at MC while being real close to them. So to me my thinking is that he released too early so it didn’t have the full power and momentum of a proper throw? I don’t know physics so I’m uncertain.

I’ve been hit with a soccer ball to the stomach while within close range before. It hurt bad, but it didn’t leave a bruise. So with that little information and imagining a metal object being sent to the head, I could totally see it knocking someone out. Probably even doing more damage than that.

Though I do wonder why have the disc be gold and/or heavy at all? If Spelldrive is based off of american football, then the dangerous aspects should come more from the players ramming into each other along with the spells they throw. The disc itself shouldn’t also be a hazard?

If Spelldrive is a bit inspired by Quidditch from the Harry Potter series, then I understand the disc being a danger as well. Quidditch has literal balls that are meant to harm players. Messed up but I guess who cares about damage when there’s potions to regrow bones. Have a Bludger bash out your brains or be tackled so hard your body breaks… I find myself questioning american football considering we don’t have bone regrowing potions as far as I am aware.

So despite the dangers of Spelldrive, I assume the medical staff at NRC is able to handle anything. Though gosh I would hate being the MC forced to play Spelldrive. Like what can MC even do? Maybe throw the disc once if it’s not too heavy… it’s such a magic-heavy sport that all MC can surely do is just run beside the others? Call out warnings and openings, but still, I would like to participate more than feeling like a on field coach.

I also find it a bit disappointing that MC never bothers to ask to see the recordings of the other matches. I know it’s to keep MC from realizing who Hornton is, but we could have had some of the boys decide MC only gets to see certain matches? Like finding any match against Diasomnia to be embarrassing so no watching those?

Ehh, I’m not going to spend too much brain power to figure that out. I just know that such a spell-heavy sport must be so interesting to watch. Though maybe MC is a bit traumatized to the point they don’t want to think about the sport anytime soon. Or has been hit hard enough to forget the tournament was being recorded.

But this does give me an idea for Bobo. I’ve read the translations for the first two manga books and in those both Yuus were suggested to have basically died? Like one almost hit by a vehicle but ends up taken by the carriage to NRC.

So I have the idea that for Bobo splitting off of her canon timeline and into fan twst is where one battle her armor doesn’t activate. She suffers a head injury and blacks out. So upon waking in Twisted Wonderland, she’s quite confused. Was she really hit in the head? What’s going on?

Thus I think being hit in the head by the disc could be a bit of a repeat of her “death”. Heck I need to make some banners to help divide up my posts as I’m about to write a rough draft of what that scene could be like.

~~~

You slowly feel yourself becoming aware of the… nothingness. You must have been sleeping quite deeply. When was the last time you’ve had such a deep, vulnerable sleep? That was something you’d grant yourself within the safety of your home, when naps would no longer suffice. But this time you hadn’t granted such a privilege to yourself.

Aching. Your head is aching. Right, the last time such a deep sleep was forced upon you was when you were… when you were killed, right? But that doesn’t make sense. Those that die don’t wake up. Were you attacked? That lizard… it shouldn’t have been able to land such a painful, ringing blow.

Is your head ringing right now? No… focus… it’s… voices? Voices, which means you aren’t alone awaiting for that lizard to rightfully consume its prey. There’s no sound of fighting, so that must mean… you’re safe.

How did it hit you? Right, your armor never turned on. An impossible feature. It was impossible that defective armor pins were handed to you. Impossible that they weren’t charged. To let such a mistake happen would be a death sentence. Mistakes like that never happened.

Something must be terribly wrong. You have to wake up now! You need to know what went wrong! How could your armor fail?! How could you die?!

Something is touching you now. Something that isn’t human? It feels like fur. Are you not safe?! No no no no no no no No! Calm down, it must just be a bat. If it wasn’t, you’d be hurt by now. The voices wouldn’t be so low.

Where are you? You want to wake up, demand answers, you need to know it was only your armor that didn’t work. That only you died. Died… why do you keep thinking of that word? You’re clearly alive… Something is terribly wrong and you wont get answers sleeping like this!

#axv #axv writing #twst related #twst bobo #spelldrive discussion #then excerpt about twst oc #1st pov for excerpt #twst spelldrive #axv fanfiction #axv fanfiction writing #bobo rarely ever dreams #wanted to write this out and share #too impatient to wait to polish it out more

0 notes

seekmywayout · 1 year

Text

i get so frustrated reading love triangles and then the writers end up... making one of the LIs turn into a nasty person

like to justify the final pairing...

ahhhhh i hate whenever that happens

i was reading a webtoon and when i caught up to the latest chapters the author managed to make both the LIs look awful, but particularly the designated second male lead. and i wanted to bash my head against the wall because it felt so... forced...

it reminds me of when i wanted to write my own love triangle years ago lol

back when i was reading a lot of shoujo manga, there was a tendency for the male lead to be the more darker and edgier type with a troubled backstory and it drove me up the wall when the romances ended up feeling like the LI was looking towards the MC to fix their problems

i wanted to write a love triangle that ended with the MC in a relationship with the 2nd LI and then acknowledging that they can love and care for the 1st LI as a friend, but they are not going to “fix” them

0 notes

roscgcld · 3 years

Text

ZEN’IN NAOYA || husband’s duty

request: omg if it is okay can i ask for a part 2 of sweet little things 🥲

note: you definitely can, love! honestly this definitely cracked my head a little since we didn’t get to explore naoya too much as a character, underneath all that complexity that makes him up as the man we saw in the manga. But I am not gonna sit here and say I do not simp for him AHAHAHA - that would be a huge lie. But we shall see, no? I feel like I made him too soft though, but I live for soft!Naoya - so do not touch me T^T

part one

warning: suggestive scene throughout, but nothing happens really. just naoya being an ass lol

pronouns: she/her

A content sigh left Naoya’s lips as he leans back into the warm water of the bath, his eyes slowly sliding shut at the warmth that surrounds him. Today has been a long day on the office - with back to back meetings and piles of paperwork on his desk, he was just ready to land into his bed face first and sleep the evening away.

“What do you want for your onigiri filling tomorrow? The farmers that produce that special rice you like sent a bag of rice to us earlier today.”

Your soft and sweet voice was what broke him out of his tranquil trance, yet he doesn’t find himself getting angry. Instead he hummed as he leans towards the direction of your voice, seeming to melt further in the steaming water when your soft hands immediately rest themselves against his broad shoulders. Fingers immediately getting to work on the knots that had started to build up since the afternoon. “Hmm...unagi filling sounds good.”

“I’ll make some for your bento tomorrow then,” You reassured him with a warm smile as you started to work through the knots on his shoulders, making sure to not accidentally dig your short but well kept nails into his skin. Whilst Naoya enjoys leaving marks of ownership all over your person, he does not appreciate having any scars left on his skin. And although he does not voice his disapproval, you know your husband well enough to know that unless he is in the mood, you should be careful about things like your nails scratching his skin.

The idea of you making one of his favourite dishes for him, knowing that he has to deal with more paperwork and calls tomorrow has him smiling softly in response. He would not voice out how your little actions causes his usually cold heart to skip a beat; instead he just leans back a little when he heard you collecting some water from the tub with the wooden shower pale. Relishing in the feeling of the water being poured over his two-toned hair, along with your soft fingers gently running through the strands.

Many people feel bad for you, since everyone knows what kind of man Naoya is. Everyone knows that he is nothing more but a skirt chaser, a man who views women as nothing an accessory to hang off his arm. Whose purpose is to provide strong heirs, and nothing more. You knew of the man even before you met him the first time on your family estate - listening to your older sister rant about how much of a myogenetic, rude, and disgusting excuse of a man Zen’In Naoya is. You’ve heard of the whispers from the other women whenever you would join a jujutsu event where the Zen’Ins would be in attendance. You knew that the moment both your fathers shook hands after Naoya shows great interest in you, your future was sealed to be with a man who seems to be every woman’s living nightmare.

And yet, for the last 4 months of marriage life, things have been...pleasant.

Naoya knew from the moment that he spoke to you that he needed to act ‘softer’ in order to gain your trust. That he cannot be his full self around you for at least the first month of your marriage in order to make him trust you; or until his patience runs thin from acting.

However, even though he has promised himself that he will drop the act after the first month; here he is, 4 months into your new marriage. Still finding it almost natural for him to act softer and more...kinder around you. Maybe it is because he finds your personality just so soft and welcoming that it just...felt right to treat you differently. Maybe he is just trying to reason to himself that as his wife, you should be treated differently from the common folk outside of your private home; after all, as long as he keeps you happy, he can get away with pretty much anything.

And yet...he has yet to find it in him to actually act like his usual self around you. Almost as if he was afraid of scaring you, or fearing that you’re scared of him. It’s laughable - how a man who was so self centered and only cared about himself and no one else, seemed to be so worried about what his wife thinks about him. He had reasoned to him that this is normal; that any husband would want their wife to fear them.

But just...it was odd to him. How he chooses to act differently around you, and not feel like he is forced in any way.

His opened his eyes to take a peak at you when his thoughts start to wonder, scanning over your concentrated features as you carefully worked the shampoo through his hair. Somehow just seeing you so focused on making sure that he was enjoying his bath had his heart skipping a beat; something that would have scared him if it were to happen with anyone else.

Yet, instead he found himself letting a small but genuine smile tug against the corners of his lips, one that immediately catches your attention as you carefully wash the studs from his hair. “What got you so happy, my love?,” You asked him curiously as you carefully ran your fingers through his hair, making sure that all the studs were gone. Instead of answering he just reached his hand up to grab your wrist in his gently, pressing a soft kiss against the inside of your wrist.

Naoya isn’t a man to convey his emotions often. He doesn’t necessarily view emotions as weak; he just sees no reason to show others around him how he feels unless it brings him some form of advantage. Other then that, he just puts up an arrogant and unbothered front for the most part. But with you...well, you were different. You are his wife, and in order to be a good husband, he needs to show you that he is willing to show you what is underneath his mask. Or so, he thinks that is what he needs to do.

The feeling of Naoya’s lips against your skin send a set of shivers down your spine, your eyes shyly glancing away from his handsome face as you felt the tips of your ears warm up. Just seeing how bashful you were about something as small as showing you emotion had him smirking against your wrist, immediately wanting to see just how far he can push his luck.

And he knows exactly what to do. “Get in the bath with me.”

You immediately snapped your shocked eyes back at your husband in shock, immediately feeling your cheeks warm at how he was staring at you expectantly. Although you’ve seen each other naked before, with him being so obsessed of having an heir of his own - it would be a surprise if you haven’t see him naked in all his glory. It wasn’t like he was bad to look at either - from all the training puts himself through to perfect his Technique, you would be lying to say that you’ve never stared at his strong back or broad shoulders whenever you two are alone.

It was just...so sudden. And you immediately knew what his intensions were, yet you just pouted softly as you quietly pulled yourself up from the steps you were seated on. Just seeing the soft pout tugging against the corner of your lips had Naoya biting back a smile as he watches you strip from your kimono, carefully folding the expensive fabrics to the side.

Soon you carefully made your way up the wooden steps of the traditional bathtub, thanking your husband quietly as he held a hand out to help you into the tub. You awkwardly knelt down between Naoya’s knees, still a little nervous to touch him even though he was the one who invited you into the bath with him. Naoya found your fear quite amusing, and without missing a beat he grabbed your hand in his before he pulls you close; chuckling at the squeak you let out when you landed against his bare chest.

“Don’t need to be so scared, my wife,” Naoya mumbles with a smirk, hands trailing down your soft back to relish the goosebumps that appear on your skin; his eyes glancing away from your shocked face to your fists resting against his chest. “After all...if there is one person worthy enough to be by my side, it will be you,” He mumbles, hands that seem even warmer than the water surrounding you two resting on the small of your back.

A combination from his soft touches, to his overly sweet but frank words had your face burning up once more as you whine and bury your face into his neck, your actions causing Naoya to let out a soft but genuine peel of laughter come from his chest. “Did I startle you?,” Naoya asks in amusement, already knowing the answer to that question. Yet he wanted for you to answer the question yourself, since he lives for seeing you getting embarrassed over the smallest of interactions with him.

You fluttered your eyes close to try and calm you rapid heartbeat, yet you nodded your head gently to answer his question. “A-A little..,” You mumble back quietly against his skin, heart skipping a beat a little at Naoya’s soft chuckle that he breathed against the shell of your ear. Naoya did not want to admit it, but he finds this subconsciously clingy side of you quite endearing. Whilst he hates it when others touch him, even if they grazed him by accident; he does not mind it when it’s you.

Maybe he has gone a little insane after marriage.

After you’ve managed to gather your wits, you quietly pulled away from him before you reached back to grab the wash towel you had grabbed from earlier, Naoya curiously opened one of hi eyes when you shifted against his chest. Just having you pressed up against his chest, along with the warm water surrounding him had lulled him into a tranquil and sleepy state. But he didn’t stop you as you wet the wash towel before you carefully lathered his body wash into the fabric.

Quietly you started to wash his body like you would usually every night, yet this time it was a little different since now you were in the bath with him. Something that he has never really allowed before, since he views his bath time as his personal time. You would usually help him bathe before you leave the bathroom to prepare for bed and whatever wifely duties you need to fulfil for the night.

But if you were being honest, as you carefully washed your husband clean, you did not mind a change to your routine. Yet you did not voice your inner thoughts as you continue gliding your hands over Naoya’s arms, making sure to keep quiet to give him the silence he enjoys whenever he’s in the bath. However, Naoya was in the mood to talk today.

Whilst you were carefully washing his chest, Naoya’s hands started to wander along your body once more once more. “So, what did you get up today whilst your husband was out at work?”

You blinked up at your husband curiously, to which he just raised an eyebrow in response at the look you threw his way. “Can a husband not know what his wife gets up to when he slaves away at his desk?,” Naoya asks with a soft raise of his brow, his words causing you to widen your eyes as you shake your head immediately. Not wanting him to think that you’re questioning his authority. “O-Of course not! I-I just...thought...you’d like some quiet in your alone time..”

A soft sigh was your only response, to which you awkwardly looked away from your husband’s eyes to stare at his hard chest; worried that you’ve angered the man. “You know...I want to hear about your day too,” Naoya mumbles after a few tensed seconds of silence, a finger gently crocking under your chin to coax your eyes to look up at him. He did not have a smile on his serious face, yet there was a soft look shining in his usually hard eyes. “I get curious sometimes when I have time to breath...what does my beautiful wife do at home when I am away? Does she miss me? Does she take the free time she gets to pretend that she is not my wife? What could you be possibly be doing when I am away from home..?”

When you heard his words, you tilted your head softly as you scanned his face, trying to understand the meaning behind his message. He wasn’t dumb - he was more than aware of the whispers of the maids that thought he was not around, how people feel bad for you that you are married to a man like him. He honestly doesn’t care what others have to say about him - he never cared about what others have to say about him. Because he knows that when they need power or need something to get done, they will always turn to him with fake smiles and praise dripping from their tongues.

However, he was genuinely worried about you - he was worried that the whispers of his past will start to scare you away. Make you think that you are an idiot for marrying a man like him, and slowly but surely take you away from him. For once he was worried that you are going to leave him, because for once in his life, he finally understand what it truly means to be home. The very thought of you leaving him shakes him down to his very core, and he will do everything in his power to prevent that from becoming his reality.

“I don’t...think like that, you know.”

Your soft voice snapped his train of thought as he glances back into your eyes, blinking when your soft hands rest against his cheeks gently with a soft smile gracing your features. “I knew the type of man you were before you came to my family estate that day, and I have heard of all the rumours of your attitude even whilst you were courting me. But that didn’t change my decision because I genuinely enjoyed having you around.”

Your words had Naoya widening his eyes as his mind went blank at your confession. And seeing your usually stoic and arrogant husband looking stunned had you giggling as your thumbs started to stroke at his high cheekbones. “Yes, you may be a little colder and stricter then I am used to, but you are still a good man. You’ve been nothing but a good husband to me, and far from the rumours paint you to be. So don’t worry too much about my thoughts on our marriage, because I am nothing but happy to be your wife.”

Quietly you gently tugged his face close, resting his forehead against yours with a smile. “I know that you grew up in a different world from I did, and that you were brought up with different morals from mine. But I also know you’re trying for me, and that is more than enough for me at the end of the day.” You mumble softly, revealing to him that you were more observant than you let on. Yet you faked ignorance for his sake because you genuinely cared for him as a person. “Because at the end of the day, a wife is knows all of her husband’s sides the best.”

For once Naoya was completely stunned into silence, having never expected for you to be so candid about your feelings. Your response to his stunned silence was a quiet giggle as you lean forward to press a soft kiss against the tip of his nose. The feeling of your warm and soft lips snapped him back into reality, and upon realising how close you were, his pale cheeks flushed up from embarrassment. Immediately one of his hands pulled itself away from where they were resting against your bare hips to cover his cheeks with the back of his hand, eyes darting away as he leans away from you immediately.

“I-I want to get out of the bath now...”

You let out a giggle at the sight of your husband so out of character, yet you made no other comment as you nodded with a smile. “Lets get ready for bed then, my love,” You hummed out as you carefully got out to grab the towels for the both of you, biting back your smile at how cute you find him to be as you dried yourself before you did the same for him.

It was only later into the night, long after you’ve fallen asleep when Naoya really calmed down. You had long fallen asleep, face tucked away underneath his chin whilst your arms wrapped around him loosely. He knows he needed to sleep in order to function properly tomorrow, but his mind has been racing the moment you two got out of the bath to prepare for bed together.

He still cannot wrap his head around the idea that you willingly stay, even knowing that there is a chance you might see a less ideal version of himself. You choose to stay knowing all of the rumours about him and his, admittedly, horrendous behaviour and morals. And whilst he does not know what was it that he did that had you landing in his life, he is 100% sure he will never let you go.

Quietly he presses a soft kiss against the top of your head, a soft but content sigh leaving his lips as he closes his eyes to try and get some sleep before his alarm would go off later. Signaling to a start of another long and boring day away from you once more.

“You’re the best thing that has happened to me,” He mumbles softly into the quiet bedroom, a soft admission to you whilst you’re far away in dreamland, dreaming of things unknown to him. But the least he can pray for is that he wouldn’t become the enemy in your nightmares.

Because at the end of the day, it’s a husband’s duty to protect the happiness of their wife from the evils of the world. Even if the biggest evil in their lives is themselves. As long as he is your husband, you will have nothing to fear.

He will make sure of it.

470 notes · View notes